“It’s useless to argue [with] somebody na sarado ang pag-iisip (who is closed-minded).”
Police Chief Director General Oscar Albayalde made this remark on Wednesday in reaction to the statement of President Benigno Aquino III against the government’s war on drugs.
“Let it be. Kung anong gusto nilang paniwalaan (whatever they want to believe), then we cannot argue on that,” Albayalde told reporters in a press briefing when sought for comment on Aquino’s statement.
But he later clarified that he was not addressing former President alone; rather, he is addressing it to the “noisy” critics of the drug war.
“Kalahatan ‘yan. Hindi lang naman siya ang nagsabi niyan (It’s for everybody. He’s not the only one who said that). So many people have, or at least, a few noisy people have already said that,” he said.
Aquino, in a speech in commemoration of the death of his father Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., questioned the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.
READ: Aquino questions gov’t policies on war on drugs, food security
The former President asked how drug suspects can grab a gun from a police officer when they were supposed to be handcuffed, and why policemen involved in alleged irregularities are not being sanctioned by the PNP leadership.
“I don’t think that’s true na walang nasesermonan (that no one’s being reprimanded). In fact there were policemen [who were sacntioned] during the first month of the war on drugs under President Duterte’s administration,” he said.
Albayalde revealed that some policemen are already in jail and are facing murder charges.
“And sabi ko nga (What I say is) we cannot argue with these people, kasi (because) they will say what they want to say, they will believe what they want to believe,” he said, referring to the critics of the anti-drug campaign. /ee