Members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group last week insisted that the death of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa was the result of a shootout. The mayor had a weapon and some drugs inside his jail cell, which the police supposedly discovered when they were serving a warrant on him.
The Senate hearing is not over and the facts still have to be established. No less than President Rodrigo Duterte, however, has made his own conclusions about the cops: He believes them, he says, and now he is willing to go to jail alongside them if they are found guilty.
That he even expressed his bias towards the cops is already objectionable. The President has more than a stake in this issue. In the minds of the public, it is Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs that the members of the police are implementing, rightly or wrongly. He has on several occasions been interpreted as actually encouraging the take-no-prisoners approach to the anti-drug campaign.
He has also famously derided anybody who dared criticize this approach. So it is but logical to assume that a crackdown on drug users and dealers—even if they are just suspects—has the Duterte imprimatur.
But to actually cast his lot with the CIDG members by saying he would willingly go to jail—now that is something else.
First, Duterte is not stupid. He knows that as president, he enjoys immunity from suit for acts performed during his incumbency. So if he is not speaking accurately, he is exaggerating.
Which brings us to the second, equally disturbing point: We have a leader who does not mean what he says. After just a few months of the Duterte presidency, the people now know better than take his words at face value. So we do expect some clarifications from one or another of his spokespersons.
Finally, what this latest pronouncement tells us is that Mr. Duterte makes little or no attempt to temper his fight against illegal drugs with a basic recognition of lawful processes and fundamental rights. A recent example: The suggestion that he might just consider suspending the writ of habeas corpus given the gravity of the illegal drug menace. His alter egos are now trying to play down the reactions to what appears to be a trial balloon. The next steps will be telling.
Alas, we have also cast our lot with this man when we elected him our president. It is just fitting he should open himself up to criticism and suggestion, because he charts the course of our nation with every word spoken, every action contemplated—whether he actually means it or not.
