Honeyman: “The Thin Blue Line”

IN 1956, C.P. Snow originated the expression “corridors of power” in his book entitled “Homecomings” where he mentioned “The official world, the corridors of power.”

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Over half a century later, Sun.Star Bacolod’s vision statement includes the phrase “…. To speak for the deprived who have no voice in the corridors of power.” To have no voice in the corridors of power is bad enough, but what is unacceptable is when the corridors of power, or those who believe they represent the corridors of power, think that they can tell us – the deprived – anything they want to, irrespective of whether their statements are truthful or not. We have an obligation to our community to evaluate the veracity of what we are told. If we doubt the veracity of those who represent what they consider to be “authority,” then we shall say so.

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On Tuesday, January 26, a Vietnamese vessel arrived at Bredco with a cargo of 77,000 bags of rice. The cargo was augmented by approximately 50 sacks of another substance. The reported number of additional sacks has varied between 50 and 70. We find this disquieting since the truth is already becoming obscured.

The Noppo laboratory found that the content of the additional sacks was N-Methylephedrine.

This result was contradicted a day later by the PDEA National Crime laboratory which stated that the dubious material was ammonium sulfate.

Collegiality has its place, but not if it obscures the truth. Since the Noppo lab was contradicted, it seems reasonable that it be given the right of reply.

As we mentioned last week, if the unknown substance dissolves in water, it is not N-methylephedrine. But if it does not dissolve in water, it is assuredly not ammonium sulfate. So it should be easily possible to ascertain which laboratory is mistaken.

Revo Yanson’s excellent and telling cartoon published last Thursday succinctly captures a credibility gap that has arisen between two government law enforcement agencies, Noppo and PDEA. It is vital that the truth be revealed.

What is important is what an organization does when something has gone wrong. Does it try to find out the details of what has happened? Does senior management have the persistence and tenacity to investigate properly the imperfections that have taken place, even though subordinates may be trying to cover their tracks? Or does the organization merely reinforce the obfuscations, inefficiencies, wrongdoings and malfeasances of its people and systems? Subject to budgetary constraints, we would like to believe that our crime labs operate with the efficiency that we see in CSI New York and Miami.

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Which brings us to the thin blue line. We are far from being a properly ordered community, but without our law enforcement agencies, especially the PNP, the descent into chaos would be rapid and irreversible.

My own neighborhood experiences with the police have been excellent and surpass what could be expected from the more impersonal policing, that is provided in the developed world. In 2005 and 2006, the local PS6 station commanders, Senior Inspector Bonifer Gotas and Senior Inspector Jonathan Lorilla took a serious interest in fairly trivial neighborhood problems that I had encountered. Their effective policing resolved the issues and I am grateful to them. It is sad, therefore, that both these fine officers are now fugitives as a result of the troubling Salabas case. We hope DOJ Sec Agnes Devanadera re-examines the case to decide whether it is appropriate to pursue charges against all the respondents involved.

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If police officers fall foul of the law, then jail is a doubly bad place for them because they encounter those who bear grudges against the police. Last week’s issuance of an arrest warrant for Senator Panfilo Lacson raises the specter of his possible incarceration. This is a serious situation because not only do the criminal fraternity despise him but so do his former police officers. As a PNP honcho, his reputation for petty vindictiveness is well known. Thirty Molo, Iloilo, cops received no pay for a year, allegedly because they did not cooperate with an illicit gambling operation that Lacson was supporting.

The media have spoken about extradition treaties that we have with other countries, which include Hong Kong, and Australia – two places that Lacson may have visited since his departure from the Philippines on 5 January. The existence of extradition treaties does not guarantee the return of those who are sought by the authorities in the Philippines. Michael Ray Aquino, also a respondent in the Dacer-Corbito murder case, has not yet been extradited from the US, even though the DOJ has been seeking his return for the past two years.

There are those who say that Lacson is hiding. Of course, but I believe he is also trying to find evidence of financial impropriety of his enemies who have bank accounts in Hong Kong and/or Australia.

These days, all activity seems to be politically motivated.

We seek the emergence of altruism from at least one of the Presidential candidates.

But will we find it?