HUNDREDS of policemen who carried out the ‘bloody war on drugs’ during the previous administration were really emboldened by former President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s promise he would provide them adequate legal support and even pardon them once they are convicted by the court.

It, however, turned out that those policemen did not receive the promised presidential aid and up to this day are still facing the consequences of their actions on their own, said Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Rommel Francisco D. Marbil.

The former president is known to have publicly told police and other law enforcement officials to ‘shoot to kill’ drug dealers and smugglers during his presidency where he launched a deadly war on drugs.

Duterte has repeatedly denied authorizing extra-judicial killings but during his presidency had repeatedly and openly threatened drug dealers with death.

In one instance, he ordered then Bureau of Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero during a televised Cabinet meeting to ‘shoot to kill’ smugglers.

During the 2016 presidential campaign period, he repeatedly said he would pardon members of the security forces, including those from the PNP and himself, if they will be charged with human rights abuses while fighting crime.

“Pardon given to Rodrigo Duterte for the crime of multiple murder, signed by Rodrigo Duterte,” he told a group of prominent businessmen.

Duterte’s defenders said he may have appeared to have endorsed police killing drug suspects but it was only his way of exaggerating a point.

In one meeting, Duterte launched into a tirade against illegal drugs and went on to mention Lieutenant Colonel Jovie Espenido whom he had just appointed as Bacolod City deputy police chief.

“Bacolod is badly hit now and I placed Espenido there. The policeman they fear. I said, ‘go there and you are free to kill everybody,’ … go start killing them,” Duterte said, adding he was willing to go to jail with the police colonel for combating illegal drugs.

Espenido gained national prominence as the chief of the Albuera police in Leyte when a group of officers from the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group shot dead Mayor Rolando Espinosa in a supposed gunbattle right inside his jail.

In 2017, he was transferred to Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental where police raided the house of Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog and shot dead the latter and 14 others, including Parojinog’s wife during a reported gunfight.

The former president repeatedly vowed to kill drug dealers and users in the country by the police and so-called ‘vigilantes.’

Gen. Marbil however said that many policemen who believed in Duterte’s promise found themselves at the losing end.

He made the revelation as he spoke about the challenges faced by police officers involved in the anti-drug campaign of the previous Duterte administration, underscoring the need for stronger support and protection for law enforcement personnel in the field.

Citing official PNP data from July 2016 to June 2022, Gen. Marbil shared that 1,286 police officers were affected in the line of duty with 312 of them killed and 974 others injured.

He acknowledged that these officers carried out their responsibilities with dedication and often faced considerable risks to ensure public safety.

“Many officers endured not only physical harm but also found themselves entangled in legal and administrative challenges,” he said, referring to the 214 officers who faced 352 criminal cases in 2016-2022.

Gen. Marbil likewise said that administrative cases were prevalent with 195 officers dismissed over the six-year period, and a total of 398 facing dismissal for various reasons. Over 20 of these individuals are currently in detention, he added.

“The numbers remind us that the impact of the anti-drug campaign was deeply felt by our police force as well,” the PNP chief remarked, noting that although former President Duterte had publicly committed to supporting those enforcing the campaign, there is no official record that these commitments were fully realized.

Looking forward, the PNP chief emphasized the importance of reform.

“Our mission is to secure the Philippines through effective crime-fighting that respects human rights and dignity.

Learning from these experiences, we aim to build a more balanced and humane approach to law enforcement,” he said.

The lucky policemen in the war against drugs include the 19 policemen led by now Colonel Marvin Marcos who were acquitted of charges they killed Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa inside his detention cell in November 2016.

Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 104 Judge Catherine Pespes-Manodon dismissed the charges against Marcos and his co-accused in October 2021 after prosecutors failed to establish their guilt.

Marcos was relieved as head of the Region 8 office of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group following the killing of Espinosa but was ordered reinstated by Duterte.

Other policemen however were not as lucky. They include the four police officers who were found guilty of homicide and sentenced to a maximum of 10-years in jail by a Caloocan City court in connection with the September 2016 killing of Luis Bonifacio, 45, and his 19-year old son Gabriel inside their house in the city.

In 2018, a Caloocan court also convicted three policemen for killing Kian Loyd delos Santos, 17, whom they mistakenly identified as a drug personality.

There is also the case of another policeman who was found guilty of killing two teenagers in 2017 in a case which rocked the country. The accused was sentenced to up to 40-years in prison without eligibility for parole.

The cop, along with another colleague, were accused of torturing and killing Carl Angelo Arnaiz, 19; and Reynaldo de Guzman, 14, and even ‘planting’ evidence’ on the two victims.

The 2nd accused died in prison in April 2019.

De Guzman, also known as ‘Kulot’ went missing for weeks before his body, which bore 30 stab wounds, was discovered in a creek in Nueva Ecija.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon