Sen. Ralph Recto. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
To assure the public that it is not a “coddler of crooks,” the Philippine National Police (PNP) should have a “public display of discipline” on rogue policemen taking advantage of its anti-drug campaign to extort money and commit crimes, Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto said on Tuesday.
Without sanctions levied on erring cops, Recto said, “the public impression is that they’re a protected species.”
“Kaya itong kaso ng mga pulis na sangkot sa tokhang-for-kidnap o toknap, dapat maaksyonan kaagad dahil kung hahayaan lang sila, mababawasan ang tiwala ng taongbayan sa kapulisan,” he said in a statement.
The senator made the call following reports of some policemen allegedly involved in the so-called “tokhang for ransom.”
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Recto said the PNP’s reputation should not be sullied by a “few dirty cops.”
“Whatever gains it has achieved in the fight against crime can be cancelled by the mischief of a few bad eggs. So it is in the PNP’s interest that it goes hard after misfits within its ranks who give the whole organization a bad name,” Recto said.
The PNP, he said, should prioritize the “cleansing” of its ranks because “it is the feeling of immunity that leads to impunity.”
“We cannot have two standards of justice: Soft gloves for policemen who use tokhang to rob, kill or extort while mailed fist against suspected drug users,” said the senator.
Recto said the future of tokhang also rests on the PNP’s capacity to allow its internal mechanism to check abuses, and see to it that these are penalized.
“Without any iota of doubt,” however, the senator believes that PNP Chief Director General Ronaldo “Bato” Dela Rosa was “hell bent in running after rogue policemen.” RAM