‘Labelling’ people can be costly

NEW PEOPLE’S Army (NPA) and Moro guerrillas will come down from the hills to talk peace with the government, if Davao City Mayor Rody Duterte is elected President.

Duterte has always been in constant touch with the NPA, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the reason communist and Moro rebels on rest and recreation (R&R) in Davao City are left alone.

READ: Reds tell Duterte: Let’s talk peace

Because of his long association with them, Duterte knows the problems that caused them to rebel against the government.

Not one of the declared presidential candidates—former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, Sen. Grace Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay—has said anything about solving the insurgency problem.

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Task Force Pantalan, originally created to decongest the ports in Manila, has become an extortion group, according to some brokers and importers.

The task force, set up by Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras, allegedly demands P40,000 a week from each big broker and importer.

Based on the complaints of some of them, I have informed Almendras about the alleged extortion activities of his task force, but reports of its illegal activities persist.

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Uniformed policemen who pick their noses, scratch their private parts in public, and read or send text messages while on duty should better beware.

Deputy Director General (DDG) Mar Garbo, deputy chief for administration of the Philippine National Police, has asked the public to train their cell phone cameras on these erring cops.

If you don’t know to whom you can send the videos or photos of a uniformed cop doing the unsightly acts or reading or sending text messages in public, send it to the Facebook page of “Isumbong mo kay Tulfo” (official) or our e-mail address [email protected].

Those photos or videos will be sent to DDG Garbo’s office.

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The PNP uniforms—striped dark blue shirt over blue pants and collared T-shirt with the “Pulis” emblazoned on the back—don’t inspire respect from the public.

Our cops look pathetic and ordinary—“walang dating” (doesn’t create an impact) somebody quipped—in their uniform.

The T-shirt is an outdoor uniform worn by cops patrolling on bicycles in the United States; it should not be an office uniform.

Why doesn’t the PNP leadership bring back the khaki uniform which looks very respectable?

The discipline of members of an armed organization is most often determined by the uniform they wear.

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Orontes Castro, executive director of fiscal management services of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), is in hot water for reportedly hitting with an iron bar Shirley Bautista, 54, and her daughter, Marie Catherina, 26, at the drive-through of a Jollibee outlet on Molino Boulevard in Bacoor, Cavite province.

“Isumbong mo kay Tulfo” is helping the Bautistas file criminal and administrative cases against Castro, who used to be our deputy consul general in California.

Castro allegedly got mad after Marie called him “manong” (older brother) when she asked that he move his car forward at the drive-through.

The Bautistas said Castro got down from his car and hit mother and daughter with the iron bar.

It seems Castro resented being called “manong.” Would he rather be addressed as “manang” or “ate” (older sister)?