Real narco coddlers

The festering situation in the police force, however, had its roots in the previous dispensation when associations between members of the police force and the illegal drugs network were considered part of the normal course of business.

As predictable as the sun rises in the East, rights groups were ganging up on President Rody Duterte as soon as they saw the opportunity in the “non-duty status” that Philippine National Police chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde had opted for in the midst of the ninja cop controversy.

The immediate target is Rody and his flagship war on drugs as they equated the trouble of Albayalde to the slide in the credibility of the campaign.

His usual critics added that Albayalde will be recycled to another position instead of being charged.

The allegations on his supposed misdemeanors, however, have not been proven and Albayalde is preparing for the legal battle he will lead against his accusers.

Amnesty International (AI) led the charge, saying that Albayalde’s resignation is the last blow to the credibility of the so-called war on drugs.

«The Philippines authorities must ensure that justice is done and that this lawless and murderous campaign ends now,» AI added.

The propaganda spin was that Rody had sought due process for Albayalde, “the very rights that his government has denied to thousands of people suspected of using or selling drugs, who have been unlawfully killed by the police acting as judge, jury and executioner.”

AI’s imposing view was not present in the past administration of President Noynoy Aquino when several police generals were identified as having strong links with the narcotics mafia.

According to former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Dionisio Santiago, Noynoy knew of the police generals and mayors who were caught up in the illegal drugs case but mysteriously, the government lost all the cases it filed against the officials.

Noynoy and his executive secretary then, Paquito Ochoa Jr., were given a list of local government officials linked to the illegal drug trade. Aquino named Ochoa as head of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission.

Later on, Rody identified five police generals whom he claimed were involved in the illegal drugs trade, They are retired deputy director general Marcelo Garbo Jr., former National Capital Region Police Office director Chief Supt. Joel Pagdilao, former Quezon City Police District director Chief Supt. Edgardo Tinio, former Western Visayas police head Chief Supt. Bernardo Diaz and Vicente Loot, who is now mayor of Daanbantayan, Cebu.

Rody had produced the so-called drug matrix when he assumed office that identified both police officials and local executives with links to the narcotics network.

Albayalde denied the accusations against him and asked the public to “move on” from the issue. But still, AI insisted that the “scandal shows that impunity is entrenched in the institutions supposed to uphold human rights and the rule of law.”

AI stated «authorities must urgently expand their probe into General Albayalde to cover the wide-ranging police abuses that continue up to this day.”

Several probes have shown that indeed abuses were recorded in the conduct of the war on drugs considering its nationwide scale and the undeniable existence of corrupt members of the police force.

The festering situation in the police force, however, had its roots in the previous dispensation when associations between members of the police force and the illegal drugs network were considered part of the normal course of business.

Sen. Leila de Lima, who was the justice secretary of Noynoy, for instance, is now detained due to her suspected links to the drugs trade.

The duplicity is not in Rody but in rights groups and even foreign legislators who are calling for the unconditional release of De Lima while at the same doing the narcotics cartel a favor by pressuring the government to end the war on drugs.