Pubdate: Thu, 23 Jun 2016
Source: Philippine Star (Philippines)
Copyright: PhilSTAR Daily Inc. 2016
Contact:  http://www.philstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/622
Author: Alexis Romero

RODY: SOME COPS SILENCING COHORTS

Some policemen may be killing their accomplices in drug trafficking 
to ensure they will not be implicated in the criminal activities.

President-elect Rodrigo Duterte himself conceded this possibility 
yesterday even as he vowed to help police officers who may face 
criminal charges for killing drug suspects. "I will take care of you, 
I will protect you," Duterte said in a speech delivered before local 
officials in Sarangani.

"If you kill 1,000, tell them it was ordered by Duterte. Period. I 
will deal with everybody," he added.

Reacting to the recent killings of suspected drug pushers, Duterte 
admitted that some policemen involved in drug trafficking might have 
silenced their accomplices to escape criminal liability.

"Baka yung pinatay nila, mga bata nila (maybe those they killed were 
their minions)," he said.

Duterte warned law enforcers not to lie to him or use his name to 
justify illegal activities.

"I told the police and law enforcers not to embarrass me by lying. If 
you committed a crime for personal reason, tell me and I'll help you. 
But do not lie to me," he said at a business forum in Davao City last Monday.

Duterte, whose successful presidential campaign has been attributed 
to his tough stance against crime, has vowed to suppress criminality 
in three to six months.

He has also offered cash rewards to people who will kill drug dealers 
and has encouraged ordinary citizens to arrest drug pushers in their 
communities.

"If you (policemen) are subpoenaed by the ombudsman, tell them to 
send it to Duterte," the tough-talking leader said.

Duterte, who served as Davao City mayor for 22 years, also warned 
local executives who are involved in narcotics.

"To the mayors who are into drugs: I will catch up with you. If we 
see each other, if we meet in one corner, I don't know - I'm warning 
you, especially those who are still in government," he said.

Duterte previously told lawmakers that at least 35 local executives 
are involved in illegal drugs.

Five drug suspects killed

Five drug suspects were killed in separate gun battles with the 
policemen in Cavite yesterday and Tuesday night.

Senior Supt. Eliseo Cruz, Cavite police director, said members of a 
raiding team gunned down suspected pusher Evan Sevilla and his two 
still unidentified companions during a shootout in Country Meadow 
Subdivision, General Trias, Cavite at around 12:20 a.m. yesterday.

Cruz said the policemen were serving a warrant of arrest issued by a 
local court on Sevilla at his house along Netherlands Street in Country Meadow.

Instead of yielding, the three suspects fired at the policemen, who 
fired back and killed the suspects.

The police recovered from the slain men three caliber .38 revolvers, 
a plastic sachet containing shabu and drug paraphernalia.

Investigators said alleged drug dealer Jerry Abundo was shot dead 
after he engaged police officers during an entrapment operation last 
Tuesday night in Barangay Puzon 1 in Rosario, Cavite.

In Bacoor City, a suspect indentifed only as Orly was shot dead by 
arresting officers after he engaged them along Tulip Street in Molino 2.

Cruz said the Cavite police had launched an allout war against 
illegal drug gangs in the province.

Cops sacked for drugs

At least 20 law enforcers who tested positive for using illegal drugs 
have been dismissed from the service, the Philippine National Police 
in Northern Mindanao (PNP-10) disclosed yesterday.

Supt. Surki Serenas, spokesman for PNP-10, said those found using 
drugs after the random test were sacked.

Serenas said the dismissal was aimed at sending a strong signal to 
police officers that there is no place for illegal drugs in the PNP.

He said regional police director Chief Supt. Lyndel Desquitado 
recently issued an order to beef up the anti-illegal drug campaign 
within the PNP.

"The previous policy was further strengthened to prove the sincerity 
of the PNP in its anti-illegal drugs campaign where instead of random 
drug test, a mandatory drug test shall be randomly conducted to all 
personnel," he added.

To date, the PNP-10 headquarters has received 41 drug-related cases 
involving police officers, two of whom were able to retire before a 
decision could be made, one resigned while another was cleared of the charges.

An alleged top drug dealer in Central Visayas, Alvaro Alvaro, alias 
Barok, surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Tuesday.

Alvaro underwent interrogation by agents of the NBI's anti-illegal 
drugs unit yesterday.

Earlier reports said Alvaro, accompanied by his mother and wife, 
first surrendered at the NBI's field office in Bohol, then was sent 
to the Central Visayas office that afternoon before being flown to 
the NBI headquarters in Manila.

Lawyer Rennan Augustus Oliva, head of the NBI-Bohol office, said 
Alvaro is facing various cases, including illegal possession of drugs 
and a violation of the anti-child abuse law.

He has a pending arrest warrant issued by Judge Jerry Dicdican of the 
Danao City Regional Trial Court Branch 25, which was to be served by 
police from Central Visayas and Las Pinas City.

But last Friday night, Alvaro allegedly escaped after a shootout 
occurred between policemen and Jeffrey Otom Diaz and his companion 
Paul Vincent Gloria inside Pilar Village in Las Pinas.

A female public school teacher and four others were arrested last 
Tuesday for alleged drug trafficking in Tacurong City.

Supt. Rannie Hachuela, chief of the Tacurong City police, identified 
the suspects as Noria Pudin, a teacher at the Tacurong City National 
High School, her companions Benjie Gayan, Aliman Salat, Nasser 
Midtonong and Hasser Musalim.

The policemen served a search warrant issued by Judge Melanio 
Guerrero of the Tacurong City regional trial court at Pudin's house 
and arrested the teacher and the other suspects. Shabu was found in the house.

Hachuela said the suspects are now detained at the Tacurong jail and 
would be charged with drug trafficking.

He said the five suspects were arrested a day after policemen in 
Lebak, Sultan Kudarat, nabbed drug dealer Domino Fernandez after a 
month-long surveillance. Police seized from Fernandez P40,000 worth of shabu.

Meanwhile, some 352 self-confessed drug users and pushers from 
different barangays surrendered yesterday to the Quezon City police.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom