The Supreme Court (SC) decision will not bring back Kian Loyd Delos Santos to his family, but it will give them some measure of solace this Christmas that justice has finally been given to their family this Christmas time.
With the SC decision upholding the conviction of his murderers, I hereby challenge the Philippine National Police (PNP) to undertake a thorough and complete reform of its entire organization, from precinct level to the national headquarters, resulting in a total shift to a humane policing mindset, purpose and reality. This reform must start today.
The PNP must end the impunity of corrupt police officers everywhere in the country once and for all. Never again must another Kian Delos Santos die at the hands of any police officer.
I remind the PNP that there is a police informant, Renato Perez Loveras, who was at large when then Caloocan Regional Trial Court judge Rodolfo Azucena Jr. promulgated his decision.
This police informant led the murderers to Kian Delos Santos. I take this opportunity to thank Judge Azucena, the prosecutors and all the brave witnesses who testified in court to ensure the conviction of the three Caloocan police officers.
I further note that the International Criminal Court must be formally informed of this decision of the SC on the murder case.
PNP leadership will surely state how these murderers of Kian Delos Santos are only a few rogue elements and do not represent the greater majority of police officers. This dismissive attitude of the PNP hierarchy is part of what is wrong with the system.
The impunity of rogue police officers persists because the system within the PNP allows them to persist. Their dismissive and sometimes permissive work environment is what allows rogue police to persist as cancerous cells and parasites.
PNP leaders cannot deny that there are rogue police officers serving as thugs of powerful people. We have the case of the missing sabungeros. We have many cases of police officers charged with rape and murder on civilians. We continue to have police officers who falsify records and give false testimony to unjustly arrest people. There are even police cadets in the PNP who commit hazing, torture and murder on their fellow cadets.
On top of all these, there are even police officers who prey upon fellow police officers, committing assault, some committing rape, some falsifying and suppressing evidence to turn on the honest and faithful police officers.
These are no longer isolated cases when all these cases make news headlines either every day or every week. There are simply too many of these cases for them to be labelled as isolated cases. No, they are not isolated. They are cancerous cells and parasites. They must be purged from the PNP and no new ones must be allowed to enter the PNP.
I trust DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) Secretary Jonvic Remulla and the National Police Commission will now be spurred to thoroughly and completely rid the PNP of every corrupt police officer in every precinct in the country. Anything less is a disservice to the Filipino people.