When citizens unite vs abuses

The evil of “endo” is no more.

President Digong has fulfilled his election campaign promise of ending the so-called endo or end-of-contract scheme where workers are made to renew their contract every five months.

Under the scheme, employers avoid giving their casual workers benefits and privileges which are enjoyed by regular employees.

There will no longer be permanent casual workers in private companies.

Seven Manila policemen—SPO2 Marvin Velasquez, SPO2 Romel Santos Alfaro, PO3 John Gaviola David, PO3 Leo de Jose, PO2 Romeo Rosini Jr., PO1 Ronnie Boy Alonzo and PO1 James Paul Cruz—are under fire after they were denounced by sidewalk vendors in Ermita for allegedly extorting P100 to P200 from them every day.

Vendors held a rally in front of the Manila Police District headquarters on Wednesday against the cops.

Those policemen would not mulct vendors if they didn’t receive orders from their superiors.

Abuses committed by people in authority would be minimized if the citizenry banded together to expose their misconduct.

Residents can go as a group to the precinct where an abusive policeman is assigned.

If the policeman’s superiors don’t listen to them, they can stage a rally in front of the police station or headquarters, just like what the Ermita vendors did.

I’m sure those vendors went to the Ermita police station to speak out against the seven policemen but apparently their complaint fell on deaf ears, so they decided to hold a rally in front of the MPD headquarters.

There is strength in numbers. Authorities will hear complaints from citizens if they band together to denounce abusive cops.

Aurora Lopez’s past as a drug pusher is hounding the 50-year-old woman.

Three Malabon City policemen—two of them identified as PO1 Kaylin Moran, PO1 Donnie Miclat—went to Lopez’s house in Caloocan City, arrested her without a warrant, and made off with P30,000 in cash, an electronic gadget and a piggy bank containing coins saved by her grandchild.

Aurora’s daughter, Rosemarie, a department store employee who lives separately from her, swore to this columnist that her mother had stopped peddling drugs years ago after she and her siblings advised her against it.

Aurora’s husband, Rosemarie’s stepfather, has a decent job.

Moran, Miclat and another unidentified cop demanded P300,000 for her release.

When Aurora’s family could not pay up, the cops charged her with drug pushing, a nonbailable offense.