Thursday, December 13, 2007 Espinoza: Police officers as hero, heel By Elias L. Espinoza Free Zone
ON my way to the Centennial Airport from Makati the other day after a business meeting, I saw cops in full battle gear posted in every corner.
At first, I thought President Arroyo would use that route. I later found out that the cops were posted there to guard the routes where detained Sen. Antonio Trillanes would pass on his way to his trial at a regional trial court in Makati.
Trillanes, who is charged with mutiny for the Oakwood caper, is now getting much attention and given importance not only by the media but also by this administration.
But he is not an ordinary offender. Aside from his case for mutiny he will also be facing charges for rebellion in connection with the attempt of his group last Nov. 29 to overthrow the Arroyo administration.
Even if he is under detention, Trillanes could still have crafted laws that will address his concerns for the Filipinos instead of advocating chaos.
Call it an extreme measure, but I think stripping Trillanes of his job as senator is better than we, the taxpayers, funding his legislative perks for nothing. Besides, he is already considered a threat to the country’s peace and order.
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As the saying goes, “death comes like a thief in the night.” Nobody knows when it will come and no one is exempted from it. The circumstance surrounding PO1 Noriel Luage’s death is infuriating, though.
Luage died from a bullet that pierced his cheek and which was fired from the gun that suspected criminal Ramon Baclohan was holding. Luage and Delfin Bontuyan of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 7 were in the team that served a search warrant on Baclohan.
But Luage did not die in vain. His death will serve as a lesson for policemen enforcing the law against persons believed to be armed and dangerous. I agree with PRO 7 Chief Ronald Roderos on the need to review the procedure in conducting operations.
For killing Baclohan after Luage was shot, Bontuyan will receive a cash bonus of P50,000 from Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña. How encouraging!
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While Cebu City policemen and CIDG 7operatives were head over heels in running after criminals in the city, PO1 Blaire Quezon committed a crime by attempting to bribe a fellow police officer.
Quezon is an embarrassment to the police force. She should be dismissed from the service and charged administratively and criminally.
PO2 Roehl Patalinghug, meanwhile, deserves praise and commendation for not accepting the P50,000 bribe, which was reportedly in exchange for his lowering the charge against Cleofe S. Racaza, who was arrested for drug pushing.
I could not imagine that a young police officer, a woman, would do such an illegal act just because Racaza’s lawyer, who happens to be her college professor and her counsel in her annulment case, asked him to do it.
The two chapters here of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines should look into Quezon’s allegation since this is also an embarrassment to the legal profession.
The involvement of a lawyer in this case, if true, is unfortunate since the incident happened in this time when the Supreme Court is getting strict in running after members of the judiciary believed to be corrupt.
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Fellow lawyer Felipe “Eping” Velasquez is calling on his 1959 batch mates at the Abellana National School to attend a reunion on Dec. 29 at Casino Español de Cebu. Eping, since I was only six years old when you finished high school, this must be a grand reunion.
