PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) Chief Oscar Albayalde defended on Thursday, March 7, the manner of National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Major General Guillermo Eleazar in confronting a cop who was arrested on Wednesday for extortion.
“Kung minsan talagang hindi mo maiwasan ‘yung outburst mo dahil sa sobrang galit. Pareho din yan ng kung minsan napapalo natin ‘yung mga anak natin sa bahay,” Albayalde said.
(There are times when you can't control your anger. That's the same with punishing our kids at home.)
“Despite kasi itong mga direktiba na paulit-ulit sa mga kapulisan natin na tumigil na sa mga ganitong gawain ay ito pa rin ang ginagawa ng iilan sa amin,” he added.
(Despite the directives repeatedly released by our police regarding extortion, some of the cops are still doing it.)
Albayalde said if it was him, he could have done more.
He said there is a small portion of erring cops who remain in the service, but every time their illegal activities are reported, the whole organization is negatively affected.
This, he added, is unfair, as they try to change the public’s perception on the PNP.
"Ginagawa namin lahat para mabago 'yung imahe namin para mapatunayan sa ating mga kababayan na gusto naming magbago (We are doing everything to change the public's negative perception on the PNP, so we can prove them that we want to change)," he said.
Albayalde said since July 2016, a total of 2,528 policemen were dismissed, while 4,511 others had been suspended from service amid the PNP’s intensified internal cleansing.
On Tuesday evening, March 5, police arrested Corporal Marlo Siblao Quibete, a member of the Station Drug Enforcement Unit (SDEU) after he tried to demand money from the family of an arrested drug suspect in exchange for his freedom and the dropping of charges against him.
Following his arrest, Eleazar confronted him, scolded, collared and held him in the head and force him to look at him.
Hours later, on early Wednesday dawn, another policeman, Corporal Anwar Nasser, was arrested for another extortion incident. His cohorts, including the head and other members of the Pasay Police SDEU were able to elude arrest together with the boodle money.
Eleazar confronted Nasser while inside the jail.
Quibete and Nasser’s arrest resulted in the relief of 44 policemen, including Eastern Police District Director Brigadier General Bernabe Balba and Pasay police chief Colonel Noel Flores over command responsibility.
Earlier, Eleazar apologized for losing his temper but noted that he will never apologize to erring cops as they deserve such treatment.
“Kinuwelyuhan ko, tiningala ko ang mukha at dinuro-duro ko. E dapat lang, he deserves that,” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte said he got Eleazar’s back.
“Sabihan mo kay Eleazar, okay iyon. Eh ano bang namang ganon-ganon? Sabihin mo, I have his back covered,” he said.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said he is also in support to Eleazar as “his actions was simply a manifestation of his frustration over police scalawags in his unit who continue to tarnish the image of the PNP.”
“While General Eleazar has already publicly apologized, his outburst was understandable given the circumstances. It was a classic case of a 'father losing his cool over his son's misbehavior' with the goal of correcting it and sending a message to his other children that bad behavior will not be tolerated in his household,” he said.
“There is no place in the PNP for police scalawags, especially those who extort money from drug personalities. They are not only a disgrace to their uniform but to the good men and women of the PNP, many of whom have given their lives in the relentless anti-drug campaign of the administration,” he added.
Año directed Albayalde to intensify much more the PNP internal cleansing to weed out erring cops from the service.
Eleazar, for his part, vowed to “relentlessly pursue” to remove bad eggs from the service and to thank and reward the good ones.
"The President's approval on the way I handled the cops involved in robbery/extortion activity yesterday only shows the consistency of our President -- how he abhors policemen involved in the illegal drug trade and policemen taking advantage of our war against illegal drugs to make money for themselves. He has called these cops as narco-cops and even narco-generals,” he said.
“The drug war, as perceived by our President, is a noble war. It is designed to save our youth from drugs and its ill effects. It is meant to save the so-called future of our nation. President Duterte has said and warned drug lords and pushers time and again not to touch or drive our youth into drugs or he will kill them.' While his is a figure of speech, the content and message is very clear,” Eleazar added. (SunStar Philippines)