When will cops stop abusing civilians?

RITCHELL Planas, 33, of Barangay 729 Zone 84 in Sta. Ana, Manila, was babysitting her 5-year-old nephew in her house when policemen from Sta. Ana station came barging in at 6:30 a.m. on Feb. 20.

She claimed PO2 Jocelyn Santos slapped her when she berated them for entering her home without knocking.

Santos was accompanied by PO2 Keith Aries Manosod and PO3 John Alfred Taruc.

The cops said they were chasing two pushers who entered her house but Planas told them nobody had come in.

They ransacked her place, destroying the terrace and several appliances, she said, adding that they also took two cell phones and several pieces of jewelry hidden in the drawers.

At the police station, the officers booked Planas for drug pushing.

She said they never found any drugs in her house.

The inquest prosecutor dismissed the drug-pushing charge and ordered Planas released apparently because the cops didn’t   show a search warrant.

To add insult to injury, Planas’ sister, who went to the station when she learned of the arrest, handed the policemen P20,000 which, they told her, was for her bail.

(Payment of the bail bond is done in the courthouse, not at a police station.)

Planas’ sister was apparently not informed that the prosecutor had ordered her release earlier.

I checked on Planas’ background after she came to my (Isumbong Mo Kay Tulfo) office.

Andres Abacan, executive officer and head of the village guards of Barangay 729 Zone 84 said Planas is a law-abiding citizen in the drug-infested neighborhood.

Abacan also said the policemen didn’t coordinate with barangay officials which is a requirement whenever they conduct a drug raid in an area.

When will policemen stop abusing civilians?

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Only a drug-crazed man could have carried out the grisly murder of a housewife and her 1-year-old boy in Sta. Rosa, Laguna province, recently.

The victims were bludgeoned to death with a hammer. The mother was raped before she was killed.

There will be more victims if the spread of drugs goes unabated.

Drug use, which is prevalent in the country, leads to heinous crimes.

The country needs a leader who can deliver the country from the evils of drugs.

Of the five presidential candidates, only Davao City Mayor Rody Duterte has vowed to stop crime and drugs within three to six months should he be elected.

The other candidates have been making motherhood statements about solving the twin problems of crime and drugs.