Panelo: Cops in Korean’s slay will pay
“They will pay for that.”
That was the stern warning of Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo to the suspects in the killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo.
READ: Korean businessman killed inside PNP headquarters
“Regarding the murdered Korean businessman, the President will not tolerate any police abuse. All these police scalawags will be dealt with and prosecuted to the fullest under the law,” he told reporters in an ambush interview on Friday.
Despite the absence of the Korean’s body after it was cremated at a funeral home in Caloocan City, Panelo said the case would still prosper.
“There is one policeman who executed an affidavit detailing what happened. That’s enough to prove the case against the suspects,” he said.
“If the testimony says that the body was burned, cremated, e di meron ka nang testimonya na walang body…that will substitute for the production of the corpus delicti,” he added.
Asked about his reaction to the information that the crime happened only a few steps away from the office of Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and his official residence, Panelo said the “commission of a crime does not choose a place.”
READ: Korean businessman killed inside SUV near PNP chief Bato’s office
“Criminals will commit crimes even in their own homes,” he said.
He added that only a “very limited number of policemen” were using President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs as a cover-up for their illegal activities.
“That’s still in relation to percentage that, that’s very small,” he said.
“There will be of course people using the drug operation for their own advantage but they will eventually pay,” he added.
But how does the government avoid these cases?
“You enforce the law strictly so that those who will try to circumvent it will be warned that if they do, they will go to jail,” Panelo said.
The President, he said, was “very serious on the operation (against erring government officials) and will not tolerate abuse.”
Asked about the observation of Human Rights Watch that there is a breakdown of law and order in the country, Panelo said: “In a hundred percent scenario, there’s only less than 1 percent. How can there be a breakdown?” he said.
“Definitely. It’s an isolated case,” he added.
He said such a case would not affect the government’s war on drugs and criminality.
“It has been successful so far. So any impairment by reason of this incident will not affect the success of the project,” he said. RAM/rga
