Why there are many abusive cops

The reduction of the sentence meted out to Rosario Baladjay, the pyramid scam queen, by the Court of Appeals is not only unfortunate but also looks suspicious.

The appellate court cut short the years Baladjay would spend in prison from life to 20 years.

Baladjay swindled close to a million individuals, including teachers who lost their hard-earned lump sum pensions, by enticing them to invest in her get-rich-quick schemes.

Why the country’s greatest scam artist’s sentence was reduced, only the appellate court justices who wrote the decision know.

I’m not implying anything, but Baladjay allegedly has hundreds of millions of pesos stashed away somewhere probably ready to be doled out to anyone who can help her out of a very tight spot.

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I heard that the police generals whom she was able to dupe of either their ill-gotten or hard-earned money were able to get it back after they threatened to kill her.

But most of Baladjay’s victims were not as powerful and relied on the courts to give them justice.

Instead of giving justice to hundreds of thousands of her victims, however, the Court of Appeals appears to have favored her by imposing a shorter sentence.

With a shorter sentence—from life imprisonment to four years and two months minimum to a maximum of 20 years—Baladjay can now apply for parole.

In this country, justice really favors the rich.

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PO1 Fulgencio Sideco, a rookie, shot and killed his neighbor in Tondo, Manila, over a long-standing grudge recently.

At the time of the killing, Sideco was facing criminal and administrative charges for firing his gun during a Christmas party last year.

The guy apparently hasn’t learned his lesson.

Why? Because civil service rules favor abusive and corrupt policemen.

A cop can’t be dismissed outright even if he openly committed grave abuse of power because he has to go through the rigmarole of due process  procedures where his side is heard.

Due process takes time and favors an erring cop, but it does not favor the complainant who often gets tired of attending hearings, which are sometimes postponed, until he finally drops his complaint.

If the authorities want to get rid of abusive policemen, complaints against them should be filed as soon as possible.

Summary dismissal proceedings against cops facing administrative cases are not really summary, meaning short, because these take months and even years.

The long process disheartens complainants who lose interest, resulting in the dismissal of the case.

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Malacañang says Director General Nicanor Bartolome, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) still has the trust and confidence of President Noy despite the spate of crimes in the country.

Of course, the President should trust Bartolome.

A disciplinarian, Bartolome has been able to maintain a clean and honest image.

His name has not been linked to jueteng, an illegal numbers game which gives away gives millions of pesos in bribes to law enforcers.

The upsurge of criminality should be blamed on the regional commanders who have jurisdiction over trouble spots, and not on the PNP chief.

Area or regional commanders have direct control over the men in the field.

If the men in the field are inefficient, resulting in more crimes, the regional commander should take the blame.