BAGUIO CITY—Watch out, “kotong” cops. The President is coming.
President Aquino said during a visit to Baguio City over the weekend that he would personally go after “two or three” cops allegedly involved in bribery or extortion following complaints from transport workers.
He said his administration was serious in its bid to help ease the plight of transport workers in the face of high oil prices and this was why he was addressing their complaints about alleged extortion activities of traffic enforcers.
He said that, so far, law enforcement authorities had relieved, arrested or filed charges against 10 to 20 traffic enforcers for extortion.
Mr. Aquino said he was told the authorities had difficulty going after these “kotong” cops because there had been no complainants.
Already, he said, he had talked to concerned agencies to remind them of the need for complainants to come out and report any police wrongdoing.
“I might actually personally go after two or three that have been reported to me and I will be visiting (them) covertly soon to determine whether or not these particular enforcers are engaged in kotong activities,” he said.
The President rejected proposals to reduce the 12-percent value-added tax (VAT) on oil—a suggestion to help people cope with high fuel prices—because he said pump prices would only go further up if fuel prices went down.
“There is an economic reality that if something becomes cheaper, normally there will be more consumption of it. That is universal,” he said.