PO1 Jonathan Castro, a cop-turned- detainee had to be transferred to another jail after inmates whom he maltreated in the past ganged up on him inside their cell at the Pasay City jail.
The policeman’s safety could not be assured by the Pasay City jail warden as some inmates wanted to exact revenge on him.
Castro is an example of a very, very bad cop.
A woman had charged him with rape. Not content with abusing the woman, he allegedly extorted money from her boyfriend.
Castro’s past misdeeds have caught up with him after the woman he allegedly raped complained.
Since rape is a nonbailable offense, Castro had to be detained while the case is pending.
He was put in a cell where—of all places—some of the inmates whom he had thrown in jail were also confined.
“He is known to hurt and force arrested suspects, like snatchers, into admitting the charges against them,” said a jail insider.
Persons like Castro should take this maxim to heart: Greet the small people on your way up because these are the very same people you will meet on your way down.
Here’s another saying that applies to Castro and his ilk: You reap what you sow.
* * *
The Philippine National Police (PNP) is probably suffering from collective bad karma.
Many of its leaders, like the present, have good and noble intentions.
But why does the PNP attract to its ranks the likes of Castro and Supt. Hansel Marantan?
If you recall, Marantan is the leader of the police and military contingent who allegedly executed 13 persons gangland-style in Quezon province.
* * *
Speaking of karma, I was once a witness to how poetic justice played out.
A Manila police officer, whom I covered when I was assigned to the police beat, had an excellent record of killing notorious criminals.
But on the side, he also killed—“salvaged” in police parlance—persons who were not criminals but who had crossed him.
He was not punished for these cases of unjustified killings as they were made to appear that these were undertaken “in the line of duty.”
This police officer had a daughter whom he doted on. He would often take time out from his duties to fetch her from school.
The daughter eventually graduated from dental school.
Several years after he retired from the police service, she had put up her own dental clinic that later became the scene of a crime.
Two robbers had barged into the clinic, one of them shooting her dead even after she had given them everything.
My friend, the ex-cop, was devastated. The Universe apparently wanted him to experience the feeling of losing a loved one in a case of senseless killing. He died a very lonely, bitter man.
* * *
I heard a rumor about a group of cops who don’t dispose of notorious criminals, but their own.
Policemen involved in kidnapping, robbery, car theft, gun-for-hire, rape and drugs are targets of this group, so the rumor goes.
The group, composed of cops imbued with idealism, has adopted the modus operandi of motorcycle-riding killers who ride tandem, approach a target and shoot them.
The group’s most prominent victim was reportedly a Manila policeman who robbed his victims in their homes.
The cop, who was with a female companion, had just come from the Southern Police District headquarters, where his administrative case was being heard, when two men on a motorcycle shot him in the head.
His female companion was spared.
As most rumors go, this one cannot be confirmed. But I was told the public will be hearing more from this group soon.