The case against cops

Except for the issue that Malacañang tolerates drug pushers being killed by policemen which is highly debatable the US government was spot on in its 2021 Country Report on Human Rights that the Philippine National Police (PNP) is very corrupt and tolerates abuses by its members.

“Human rights groups continued to express concern about abuses committed by the national police and other security forces and noted little progress in reforms aimed at improving investigations and prosecutions of suspected human rights violations,” the US State Department report said about the PNP.

The PNP was quick to react to the report, saying a total of 5,599 policemen were dismissed from the service from July 2016 to March 30, 2021, for various offenses.

Of that number, 726 of its personnel were kicked out for involvement in illegal drugs, the PNP said.

Big deal!

The 5,599 policemen dismissed during the Duterte administration are way too low, considering the numerous complaints filed by aggrieved citizens against abusive cops throughout the country.

That figure, if you ask me, would only cover the National Capital Region, not the entire country.

I know whereof I speak, since my program, Isumbong Mo Kay Tulfo, a tribune in media, receives complaints about abusive cops.

Almost every day – when Isumbong was still on radio and TV in years past – of 10 complaints from citizens who come to our office for redress, six concerned abusive policemen.

My estimate is that of the 10 complaints from citizens that we passed on to various disciplinary units within the PNP, only two were acted upon in favor of the aggrieved citizens.

The rest of the cases were heard but had taken so long to be resolved that the complainants lost interest; or they were dismissed because the aggrieved citizens were too scared to pursue their complaints.

Most of the human rights violations involving policemen that were brought before us concerned the planting of evidence (drugs or deadly weapons); shooting or beating up of civilians; ignoring calls for help; trespassing or barging into homes without warrants; innocent citizens being framed; and, yes, rape or other kinds of sexual assault and harassment.

Here is my humble suggestion: Administrative cases against cops should be decided based on quantum evidence, even if the complainants no longer attend the hearings.

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A blatant example of the delay in hearing administrative complaints against cops was a case of a Pasig policeman who shot dead a fellow customer inside one of the city’s karaoke joints, due to a quarrel over a microphone.

The cop concerned died of cancer while the administrative case against him – we provided assistance when the victim’s family filed it – was decided after 12 years; the decision was dismissal from the service.

Up to his death, however, the criminal case was still pending.

Of what use is the hay if the horse is already dead, goes a Filipino saying.

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The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) is at loggerheads with some local government units (LGUs) which have banned Small Town Lottery (STL) from operating in their areas.

STL came about as a legal substitute for jueteng, an illegal numbers game.

However, operators of STL will have to apply for a permit from the LGU for them to operate. If the LGU does not give the permit, the STL’s operations in the area are considered illegal.

Another legal lottery game, a rival of STL, is the “Peryahan ng Bayan” (community fair).

Like STL, “Peryahan” has to have a permit from the LGU to open in its jurisdiction.

Many LGUs (town, city or provincial governments) allow only one legal lottery operator in their area, either STL or Peryahan, to the exclusion of the other.

Reports reaching this columnist say that a PCSO official has received bribes of up to tens of millions of pesos from each of the STL operators who thought the PCSO’s approval was enough.

And that’s when the problem begins.

Peryahan collectors in some provinces, towns or cities are being arrested by the local police and even by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after receiving bribes from rival STL operators.

But after Peryahan collectors show their IDs, documents from the PCSO and approval from the local governments, prosecutors (fiscals) promptly release them.

The Court of Appeals (CA) recently upheld the legality of Peryahan after the current PCSO board of directors disapproved of its operations.

However, the CA passed on its decision for arbitration by prominent legal minds, one of them a retired Supreme Court justice.

Peryahan, which is operated by Global Tech Mobile Online Corp. (Globaltech), was given a permit by the previous PCSO board to operate along with STL.

Unlike some STL operators, Globaltech has not offered bribes to any PCSO official since, it says, it’s legal.

Globaltech’s no-bribe policy has made its collectors prey of some corrupt law enforcers who are under the payroll of STL operators.

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Some STL operators who reportedly bribed a PCSO official are asking that official to give their bribe money back after they were disallowed in some provinces and chartered cities from operating.

Refunds are out of the question, as the official has allegedly already spent the bribe money, according to my sources within the agency.

Globaltech is also planning to sue the members of the PCSO board for continuing to disapprove of the numbers game, even after the appellate court ruled that it’s legal.

Globaltech is also filing graft cases with the Office of the Ombudsman against the PCSO official in question, when a new administration takes over.

The company is biding its time since the official is allegedly very influential with some Malacañang officials.

Rumors have it that the PCSO executive’s former lover is a national official.