Pubdate: Fri, 08 Jul 2016
Source: Cebu Daily News  (Philippines)
Copyright: 2016sCebu Daily News
Contact:  http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1723
Author: Stephen Capillas

THE DIRTY WAR AGAINST ILLEGAL DRUGS

In terms of sheer dramatic impact, President Rodrigo Duterte's 
disclosure of five PNP officials who are allegedly protectors of drug 
lords in last Tuesday's gathering at the Philippine Air Force 
reminded me of an August 1992 incident involving then vice president 
Joseph Estrada and the late Chief Insp. Jose "Joe" Pring.

Pring, whose life story was made into two action movies starring 
movie legend Philip Salvador, was invited along with Chief Insp. 
Timoteo Zarcal in a news conference at Estrada's home.

After some pleasantries, the vice president produced a witness, a 
lowly police officer who admitted to being part of a kidnap ring and 
the police officer identified Pring and Zarcal as responsible for the 
spate of kidnappings of Filipino Chinese businessmen.

The shocked look on both Pring and Zarcal's faces after they were 
ordered arrested on the spot by Estrada drew praise from the public 
and from then president Fidel V. Ramos, whom Duterte credited for 
convincing him to run for the presidency.

Pring denied the allegations and both him and Zarcal were acquitted 
two years later. Since it occurred 25 years ago, I had to do some 
Google research for some facts and then I came across a Manila 
Standard news story that stated that Pring died in December 15, 1994 
in an ambush by unidentified armed assailants during a rush-hour 
traffic jam in Sampaloc, Manila.

His colleague Zarcal was assassinated eight months earlier by the 
Alex Boncayao Brigade, a Sparrow unit of the communist New People's 
Army (NPA). Based on the Manila Standard story, Pring was quoted as 
challenging the Sparrow units "to come and get me" but the only 
evidence of the identities of the assailants was destroyed when one 
of them held an ABS-CBN cameraman at gunpoint and destroyed the camera.

Again, President Rodrigo Duterte minced no words in saying that the 
war on drugs "will be dirty" and that he won't apologize for the 
consequences of that war. But based on a casual reading of public 
sentiment on his public disclosure of the names of the five generals, 
who included retired police directors Manuel Garbo and Daanbantayan 
Mayor Vicente Loot, no public apology was needed.

In fact, some of the people I came across said it was about time 
someone stood up and named names. In emphasizing his point, President 
Duterte told his audience and those monitoring the live coverage on 
TV and radio that these accused officials were paid for by taxpayers' 
money, including the very clothes they wear and the education they 
received, only to turn out as alleged protectors of drug lords.

And it doesn't take a genius to know that President Duterte might 
just be right; what they were accused of doing is treason any way one calls it.

A police official/officer or local official who's supposed to protect 
you and look after you but ends up protecting those that poison the 
country's youth and its people with drugs and profits obscenely from 
it commits treason of the highest order.

*

Speaking of the NPA, Jose Maria Sison's declaration of support to the 
Duterte administration's campaign against illegal drugs should be 
viewed on a broader perspective, though I admit to some personal 
reservations about it.

For one, Duterte's declaration that he wouldn't save police officials 
caught doing drugs from prosecution by the NPA speaks of his 
tolerance for their actions that, in a previous administration and 
time, would be considered extra judicial and therefore illegal.

Sison, the exiled chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines, 
justified the killings and even expounded on the observation that the 
CPP-NDFNPA are acting like a separate government in the country by 
saying that this government is acting on behalf of the Filipino people.

With Duterte's admission of being a socialist and a former student of 
Sison, I'm not surprised by Sison's current outspoken and proactive 
stance. It's also no small surprise that the CPP-NDF-NPA is joining 
the anti-drug campaign in order to win brownie points with the public.

*

Oplan TokHang (Toktok Hangyo) is the legal stratagem that can serve 
to protect the police from prosecution as promised by President Duterte.

The papers that these suspected drug users and dealers signed can be 
used as basis by the police in their legal defense in the event that 
these users and dealers return to their former life only to end up in 
an armed confrontation with the police.

Since they were also profiled, it makes it easier for the police to 
track them down as well. As Duterte himself said, he is a former 
prosecutor and he knows the ins and outs of courtroom trials.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom