Militants say war on drugs ‘doomed to fail’
In this picture taken on July 8, 2016, police officers investigate the dead body of an alleged drug dealer, his face covered with packing tape and a placard reading “I’m a pusher” on a street in Manila. AFP PHOTO / NOEL CELIS
Militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) on Tuesday said the government’s so-called war on drugs is “doomed to fail” because of its flaws and the corruption in the Philippine National Police (PNP).
The group has already called for a “Black Friday Protest” against “police impunity” on Friday morning. The scheduled protest follows reports that a Korean businessman was kidnapped by policemen and was killed inside the PNP headquarters.
The PNP leadership did not know about the crime until the businessman’s wife shared their story with the media, thinking that the kidnappers had kept him alive. However, it was revealed that Jee Ick Joo was killed immediately after he was abducted in October last year.
READ: Korean businessman killed inside PNP headquarters
The incident has been dubbed “Tokhang for ransom,” after the police’s anti-illegal drug campaign in local communities, which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of drug suspects, most of them poor. Innocent bystanders have also become victims of both police operations and vigilante killings.
“The Philippine National Police has gone on a killing rampage that has exposed the rottenness and corruption of the institution,” Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes said.
“The murder of a kidnap victim inside Camp Crame, the massacre of civilians in communities, police violence against protesters, and the cover-up of crimes — all these point to impunity on the part of law enforcers,” he added.
Bayan called on the public to “express their indignation over the killings and other police abuses in the so-called war on drugs.”
Reyes said PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa should relieve all of the officers involved in the kidnap-slay of the former Hanjin executive.
“We call on the President to stop his blanket endorsement of the killings in his drug war,” he said. “That many of the victims come from poor communities point to the socio-economic basis of the proliferation of illegal drugs. Unless this is addressed, the drug problem will persist and the abuses will mount.”
The group will hold a rally in front of Camp Crame at 10 a.m. on Friday. JE/rga
