After a month of hiatus, Oplan Tokhang is back. This time, it is called Double Barrel Alpha Reloaded.
A day after the announcement of its return, eight people were killed in various anti-drug operations. So much for a bloodless Tokhang 2. It is not an auspicious relaunch.
Philippine National Police Chief Bato dela Rosa in a press briefing last Monday made several important distinctions between Tokhang 1 and 2 to make sure that the so-called mistakes committed in Tokhang 1 will not be repeated. This time, effort was undertaken to at least select the personnel that will compose the new Drug Enforcement Unit. Starting from its chief, all the personnel were vetted in a way that it was never done before.
One wonders, however, how the vetting was done and where the personnel came from. If the personnel came from units within the National Capital Region, then I have strong misgivings. After all, the temptation of drug money is so strong that it can easily melt the resolve of principled individuals.
They say the operational procedures will now be different. Operations at the barangay level will have to be coordinated with the barangay captain who will be required to accompany the raiding team.
A parish priest or a pastor will be requested to be present to enhance the credibility of the operation. The PNP Chief further said that the primary operating units will be the territorial police forces. He did not, however, elaborate how this new PNP-wide drug enforcement unit will fit into the overall Tokhang 2 campaign. Can this unit conduct operations anywhere by just informing the territorial force before the operation, or does the territorial force have to be present during the operation? The press briefing failed to clarify this.
Also, will a search warrant be required before the police can enter the houses of suspects or will the presence of the barangay captain be sufficient. We have to remember that the presence of the barangay captain or a priest will not make the operation legal. And why do we have to include a priest? This is not a good idea.
Sure, the church is a big critic of Oplan Tokhang but getting them involved in police operations is not the way to go. The church leaders therefore, were right to refuse participation.
If the PNP wants credible police operations, all it has to do is follow old and established police procedures like securing warrants instead of simply gunning suspects down. The PNP must realize that the outcry in Tokhang 1 was due to the numerous occasions wherein the killing of so-called suspects were so incredulous that very few people believed the police version of the story.
The PNP has a lot of work to do before it can convince the public that the effort will be different the second time around. As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. If Bato means what he is saying, then he must do it because no amount of deodorizing will help if in the end if the campaign will be the same banana.
Less than a year before the retirement of Bato de la Rosa, I would hope that he starts thinking of his legacy. How will he leave the police organization in a much better situation than when he started to head it?
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What should we make of the latest testimony of retired SPO3 Arturo Lascañas? Is it believable as critics of the administration are saying or a perjured story as claimed by supporters of President Duterte?
This is the problem when a story is changed. The problem of credibility always comes up. Why should people believe the new story when the original narration was different? In the last Senate hearing, the senators rightfully questioned his motivates, chronology of events and inconsistencies in his affidavit. Still, the story is not necessarily false. He claimed to have participated in over 300 killings with him personally killing about 200 people, a shocking number even to an old foggy like me. It puts to shame the record of someone I used to know who claimed to have killed about 75 people during the anti-dissident campaign in Central Luzon.
Senator Ejercito pointed out that the reason Lascañas changed his original story last October was that he failed to get any concession in four business ventures that he attempted to broker with the administration. In other words, sour grapes. Another is that Lascañas is just being used by those interested to topple President Duterte from power. On the other side of coin is repentance as the principal motivation. It is a powerful reason especially when Lascañas thought that he was about to meet his maker. Intimations of mortality does change people.
The other reason is that what possible gain Lascañas could get except criminal charges for murder and retribution from the administration?
It is probably hard to find an impartial observer here. Either one is for or against President Duterte. There is no middle ground. But what can the public really expect from the hearings? That a case be filed against the President or perhaps impeach him from office? As any average observer of politics would point out, this is simply not going to happen. Unfortunately, Justice in the Philippines depends on the political weather. A crime in the previous administration may not be a crime in the current administration. It is simply a fact of life in this country of ours. So, sit down, relax and watch the circus and hope that these misfortunes will not happen to you.
