I MET Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) regional chief, Police Supt. Lito Patay, at the Capitol yesterday. After all the bad publicity that he had received even before he could assume office here, I had pictured a man with horns on his head. I was disappointed. He is just a regular guy, if you know what I mean.
Your reputation preceded you, I told him after we’ve been introduced. He gave a wry smile and said he didn’t care, he will just continue to do his job.
Then his face turned really serious. “They’re highlighting the fact that people were killed in my jurisdiction when I was assigned in Quezon City,” he said. “What they’re not telling was that the campaign against drugs was in fact mostly community-based.”
The softer side of the campaign had the barangay identifying and testing residents suspected of being drug users. Those who were found to be positive drug users were treated according to the degree of their use or addiction, ranging from counseling to community-based rehabilitation and to confinement in a rehabilitation center.
The program, which had the full support of the police, worked in Batasan, Patay said. They were trying to replicate it in the Payatas area when human rights activists complained that the drug testing was illegal, he added, shaking his head, as if saying it was a waste.
The CIDG regional chief was with Cebu City police director, Senior Supt. Royina Garma, when we talked. They were classmates in the Philippine National Police Academy. It was Garma whom Patay succeeded at the CIDG and their camaraderie was apparent. Who was the brighter student between the two of you, I asked. “Siya,” Patay said, pointing to Garma. “Medyo madaldal lang.” They both had a good laugh.
Patay may have meant “more outspoken” when he said that because Garma does speak her mind. I forgot to ask her if this was the reason she’s not in Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s list of favorite police chiefs. She would probably have answered, “Who cares?”
Garma said it was time that the drug problem should be viewed not only from the legal but also from the business standpoint. “How can you make the business of illegal drugs a losing one” she asked businessmen during a recent forum, she said.
To my observation that the campaign against drugs appeared to be more focused on the customers than the businessmen, both Patay and Garma replied that it wasn’t so. They’re targeting both, they said, because if there are no end users, the business will not flourish.
That made sense. Indeed, which businessmen will engage in the trade of goods that are not sellable?
Our conversation was interrupted when Gov. Junjun Davide arrived for the signing of the deed of donation of the province-owned lot currently occupied by the Highway Patrol Group and the CIDG to the Philippine National Police but not before we agreed to meet again for coffee and more talk.
They’re regular guys, I told you.