Asked how he felt about the discovery that a Korean businessman was strangled inside Camp Crame, the headquarters of the Philippine National Police, top cop Director General Ronald dela Rosa said he wants to melt in shame.
Arrest warrants were issued Friday against three policemen—Special Police Officer 3 Ricky Sta. Isabel, SPO4 Roy Villegas, Ramon Yalung and four others identified only under the aliases “Pulis,” “Jerry,” “Sir Dumlao” and “Ding.”
The accused had allegedly taken Jee from his home on Oct. 18, 2016, on the pretext that he was involved in illegal drugs. Later, his wife paid a ransom of P5 million, but sought police help when the abductors could produce no proof of life.
Sta. Isabel reportedly strangled Jee Ick-Joo with his own hands; the others brought the body to a funeral home in Caloocan and later on had the remains cremated.
Palace officials said President Rodrigo Duterte will ensure those behind the killing will be prosecuted even as presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo immediately branded the incident as isolated.
We beg to differ.
Since President Duterte took office, there has been a climate of fear as the PNP carries out his war on illegal drugs in a manner that has been described as indiscriminate, scorched-earth and abusive. Nearly 6,000 people have been killed in the past seven months. One suspected drug lord was shot to death inside his cell in Leyte, and no less than Mr. Duterte defended the cops who carried out the killing. He reinstated them even as his own police chief had relieved them of their posts.
In the operations conducted among poor communities, an all-too frequent justification for the killings is that the individuals being invited for questioning “fought back.”
As a result, eight in 10 Filipinos are afraid they or someone they know might be the next victims in the government’s war.
We deplore the fact that the headquarters of those sworn to protect the people has turned into a venue for murder, carried out by rotten police officers who may or may not be executing orders from their superiors. To what depths have we descended?
And so we say to Director General Dela Rosa: Melt away, sir—and get off your post if you still have some decency left in you.
