FILE PHOTO: Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla (Bibo Nueva España / Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines–As a reminder to the police to prioritize serious crimes over minor infractions, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Friday that success is measured not by the number of arrests but by the number of convictions.
Over 200,000 people, Remulla remarked at the celebration of the CIDG’s 70th anniversary, are being held in various institutions; most of them were caught playing “cara y cruz,” a street coin game that became a target of buy-bust operations.
“Sila ang nakukulong. Minsan wala talagang kasalanan [They (playing) cara y cruz] are the ones who get arrested. Most of the time, they are innocent [of drug accusations],” Remulla said.
The arrest of petty or template crime violators is made “all in the claim of accomplishment.”
“I hope this will not continue. Mahalaga ang community ang magsasabi kung successful tayo o hindi at hindi ang numero ng ating hinuli na hindi naman natin alam kung may sala o wala,” he said.
(I hope this will not continue. The community should be the one to say whether we are successful or not, not the number of arrests made because we are not even sure if the people arrested are guilty or not.)
“I hope that we can focus on the bigger crimes. Huwag na natin patulan yung mga pipitsugin sa kalye. Hindi ko ho sinasabi na huwag natin hulihin yung mga lumalabag sa batas. Hulihin natin sila, ngunit hanapin natin yung malalaki na mas malaking perwisho ang ginagawa sa atin lipunan,” he added
(Let’s not focus on petty crimes. I am not saying we should not arrest them, we have to arrest all those violating the law. What I am saying is we should focus on the bigger crimes because they bring more damage to our society.)
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