This was a gory, chilling crime. The inconsistencies in the “official version” add to the disquiet.
In the afternoon of Feb. 20, a 14-year Chinese student was kidnapped on his way home from the British School in Taguig. Taken with him was the family driver, who the police had not named.
The driver was found dead the next day in the family vehicle. According to the official version, the scene of the murder was hurriedly abandoned by kidnappers because of the hot pursuit operations conducted by the police. Recovered from the vehicle was the driver’s phone, which yielded important information.
It turns out, the driver was part of the kidnapping scheme. He might have been killed to cover tracks. But it was precisely the phone found on the scene that provided the police the identities of the kidnappers.
DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla announced the boy’s recovery during a press conference held at Malacañang on Feb. 26. Other sources, however, insist the boy was returned to his family as early as Feb. 23 – although missing part of one of his fingers in a gory “proof-of-life” exercise.
Strangely, the DILG produced no body cam evidence of the operation to rescue the boy. Nor are we given any explanation why the kidnappers had escaped the rescue operation.
Remulla claims the victim was released without payment of any ransom. Information is circulating in the closely knit ethnic Chinese community, however, that a hefty ransom was indeed paid. This is the reason the boy’s life was spared.
The official version says that the crime was perpetrated by a Chinese criminal syndicate assisted by Filipino thugs, a number of whom are former police officers. The DILG claims they have identified all 22 men involved in the kidnapping. A full week after the crime, not one suspect has been found.
Again, the information circulating in the ethnic Chinese community points to the involvement of a prominent personality associated with the gambling networks. The personality is said to be a friend of Remulla.
The DILG secretary did link the kidnappers to the POGO networks that were all supposed to have been shut down last year. It seems the money men associated with this “industry” remain highly organized to undertake other shadowy enterprises.
The story about a “hot pursuit operation” leading to the rescue of the kidnapped boy sounds pretty dramatic. But it is a version of events emanating from Remulla alone and not from the police.
We are bound to learn more about what really happened over the next few days. There has been enough disenchantment with Remulla at the senior levels of the PNP to expect the truth might somehow slip through the official version.
Some senior police officers think Remulla is somehow distracted from fully doing his job.
Crime wave
That kidnapping case and the dramatic armed robbery of a jewelry store in Davao adds to the sense of rising criminality in our midst. In the preceding weeks, reports of drug busts and instances of financial fraud became more intermittent.
All these create a sense that a crime wave is happening.
Our citizens are eager to hear proposals to improve law enforcement and break up networks of organized crime. The official crime statistics we are regularly fed might suggest decreasing incidence of crime. But they lose credence before stories from our neighborhoods or circulating in social media.
Certainly, our voters want to hear proposals for more effective law enforcement from candidates seeking our support. It is not enough that we are offered action stars. Our voters expect serious institutional improvement.
This week, during a meeting of barangay officials at General Trias, Cavite, former Senate president Tito Sotto reiterated the need for a more holistic approach to fighting the epidemic of illegal drugs. The officials gathered for that meeting were ready and willing to be part of a broader and more comprehensive grassroots effort against illegal drug use.
Sotto was principal author of Republic Act no. 9165, known as the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. This law is the basis for the existence of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) that is the spearpoint of government’s efforts to defeat the menace of dangerous drugs.
Reflecting on over two decades of the law’s effectivity, Sotto thinks the whole anti-drug effort might require a serious review. He feels that government’s focus has been primarily on arresting offenders and taking legal action against drug peddlers. Not enough has been done in the areas of prevention and rehabilitation.
The effort against dangerous drugs, Sotto believes, deserves a whole-of-government strategy. The DepEd ought to play a role in informing our young of the perils of illegal drug use. The Department of Health ought to be involved at community-level rehabilitation of victims.
In this light, he outlined his plan to establish a Presidential Drug Enforcement Agency. The institution would centralize enforcement, prosecution, prevention and rehabilitation efforts to ensure a broader, better coordinated and more effective approach to the problem.
The establishment of this agency would be his top priority if he returns to the Senate.
The campaign against dangerous drug use might learn from our positive experience with the NTF-ELCAC. This task force brings together nearly all government agencies to deliver a complete service package for remote communities that were vulnerable to infiltration and control by armed insurgent groups.