Carl Henry Q.

Uy
Sec 79 | College Academic Skills in English

Are police officers the Protectors or Predators of the people?

           Are police officers true to their oath of serving and protecting people? It is
inculcated in our minds that law enforcement officers have done various things to
protect their people. Yet, the concern of the president's "anti-drug campaign," that
thousands of suspected drug offenders have been killed by the Philippine police or hired
to be killed by others. Numerous reports of ill-treatment cases and violated rights
remained pending or fabricated, considering that the abuse victims are in the
marginalized sectors. According to government data, Philippine President Rodrigo
Duterte's murderous "war on drugs" intensified during the Covid-19 shutdown. One of
the causes is that Philippine police fabricate evidence to justify wrongful executions in a
"war on drugs" that has resulted in the deaths of over 7,000 people, as reported by the
Human Rights Watch (2020). The harassment and punishment of critics of the drug war
have resulted in a significant decrease in fundamental human rights respect. The
president further implemented the Anti-Terrorism Law that worsened people's rights and
gave police impunity and a license to kill. Duterte, who relishes his "Duterte Harry"
moniker and reputation, praised their assassinations as a practical way of crime
prevention. More so, Duterte portrays his fellow officers and the anti-drug campaign as
a life-or-death war against a "drug menace" that risks converting the Philippines into a
"narco-state," oblivious that the data he relies on are erroneous, overstated, or falsified.
Thus, it is not a war on drugs but a war on the poor. Therefore, the Philippine Anti-
Terrorism Law of 2020 exacerbates the abusive power of the police. The
allegations of torture and maltreatment committed are being fabricated, seldomly
investigated, and target primarily poor people.

           The police's routine fabrication of the reports saying that they had been fired
upon first using a gun by the suspects directly contradicts the assertions of the police.
Witnesses described how police conducted late-night raids, did not attempt to make an
arrest, and then opened fire on their victims. Police have been accused of planting
drugs and weapons and then claiming them as evidence. The former Philippine National
Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa argued that a bloodless war against illegal drugs was
impossible. "These drug lords, as he has stated, will not surrender or leave the drug
trafficking industry without a fight because this is a multibillion-peso business," he added
(Cupin, 2017). The power of the PNP chief dela Rosa can grant to the police. They can
quickly sweep controls that could open the door to discriminatory enforcement,
infringements, and suppression of lawful dissent. Recently, the current PNP chief Gen.
Guillermo Eleazer said that the government's drug war increased corrupt officers is
"baseless and unfair." According to the PNP, which has never permitted any abuse. He
added that he has agreed to enable the Department of Justice to review only 61
documents out of 5,655 police operations that resulted in suspect killings during the
government's anti-drug campaign (Mendoza, 2021). In contrast, the PNP chief Gen.
Eleazer allowed DOJ to investigate the reports. Only 61 cases of police operations that
resulted in the deaths of the suspects were studied compared to a thousand operations.
Where is the investigation of the remaining cases? Is it only the superficial cases? Did
they allow them to say that they are being investigated or further cover their
wrongdoings? There is no doubt that cases are being fabricated. It was reported by
Bouckert (2017) that according to Human Rights Watch's emergency director,
investigations into the Philippine drug war revealed that police routinely execute drug
suspects in cold blood before covering up their crime by concealing drugs and guns at
the scene. They falsely claimed self-defense to support their "nanlaban" narrative,
which is detrimental to our democracy as it threatens human rights (Tupas, 2021). The
Human Rights Organization uncovered examples where police either placed evidence
on suspected drug users and sellers or issued reports that contradicted family members'
statements of the alleged operation in a study performed from October 2016 to January
2017 (Cupin, 2017). Consequently, that could have been a counterpart to the falsified
accounts of police prompting to fabricate the subsequent incident reports that made the
perpetrators saved and the captives enslaved.
           The misconduct of law enforcement is seldom investigated because, according
to them, the president is their protector. The president further stated on August 6, 2016,
"My order is to shoot to kill you. I don't care about human rights, you better believe me"
(HRW, 2017). In a Senate committee on public order hearing about proposed revisions
to laws that may enhance anti-illegal drug activities, Dela Rosa used "deaths under
investigation" (DUI) for the first time. Hence, the Philippine National Police (PNP) denied
a request for detailed information on individuals killed during lawful and non-legitimate
police operations because it could jeopardize ongoing investigations (Bueza et al.,
2017). Since the government implemented various lockdowns and quarantines, the
primarily police-enforced lockdown in Metro Manila has been lifted. However, movement
is still restricted. When the Human Rights Council meets later this month, it should
address the problem of human rights violations in the Philippines once more and further
investigates the crimes committed by the perpetrators. Furthermore, until the Duterte
government took office, the police had never used "deaths under investigation."
Reporters who have covered the beat may confirm that this has never been mentioned
in police statements or press releases (Bueza et al., 2017). Moreover, as documented
by the Human Rights Watch (2017), Philippine National Police Director-General Ronald
dela Rosa criticized calls for a thorough and impartial probe into the killings as "legal
harassment" that "damages officer morale." The efforts to bring the perpetrators of the
drug war to account have failed miserably. Rather than responding constructively, the
administration is expected to continue to dispute the claims.

           Police have systematically targeted poor and defenseless people across the
country. The fact that the poor are not provided the same amount of safety and respect
has fueled the perception of war on the poor (Amnesty International, 2011). Even before
the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, he promised the police that each’s time a drug
suspect or other accused criminal is killed, the police are paid with monetary incentives
for each assassination depending on the position in the drug cartel. The financial
incentives for each assassination allegedly offers 10,000 pesos ($200) drug suspect or
other accused criminal being killed, ($400) 20,000 pesos for a street peddler, ($990)
50,000 pesos for a member of a community council, ($20,000) one million pesos for
distributors, merchants, and dealers, and ($100,000) five million pesos for "drug lords."
(Iyengar, 2016). President Rodrigo Duterte's directive for the police to crackdown
on tambays (loiterers) and drug users was defended again by Malacañang, even with
complaints that it primarily targets the poor (Placido, 2018). Despite allegations of
abuse, Metro Manila police will continue to intensify operations against tambays or
people loitering in the streets late at night, according to ABS CBN News (2018). In
addition, He told the police officers the day after his inauguration that "Do your duty, and
if you kill 1,000 people in the process because you were performing your duty, I will
defend you". As the police are being dazzled by the monetary reward promised by the
president, no matter how much money is being offered to you, it is unreasonable and
unlawful to kill innocent or suspected people, for it is not a deterrent to the anti-drug
campaign. Hence, the police choose money over humanity. President Duterte took an
oath to defend the poor and confront the country's persistent inequality when he was
elected. According to a victim's family member, the "war on drugs" is a struggle against
the poor (Amnesty International, 2021). Duterte's "war on drugs" has been framed as a
campaign against drug lords and pushers, according to a statement by Human Rights
Watch (2020). In all but one of the instances investigated by Human Rights Watch, the
victims of drug-related deaths by police or unidentified shooters were impoverished.
Rather than being drug distributors, many of the victims were thought to be drug
consumers. Almost all the victims were jobless or working in low-wage jobs like
rickshaw drivers or porters, and they lived in slums or informal communities. Even if the
police target the most vulnerable people living in slums and the alleys, there's a strong
probability that powerful drug lords or traffickers will be able to bribe their way into the
Philippine justice system's highest tiers. And the government, together with its
syndicate, will remain in drug exchange (Iyengar, 2016). Additionally, with the former
PNP chief dela Rosa, and the president's stance on the war on drugs, the police force's
impunity, aided by President Duterte's words, has fostered widespread killings,
particularly among the poor. Furthermore, the Amnesty International Organization
(2021) has documented 33 incidents in Metro Manila, Cebu Province, and Mindanao, in
which 59 persons were killed. Similar police testimonies describe alleged drug suspects
physically fighting arrest, causing cops to fire. Instead, witness testimony shows that
cops often kill people begging for their lives amid the overwhelmingly urban poor. They
instantly shoot the suspects from their watch lists without even arresting them because
they know the poor are powerless, have no bail money, and don't know anything of the
law.

           Given the pieces of evidence and insights of police instigation of killings

mentioned above, that amounted to crimes against humanity. The police and its
enablers have been the predator of our human rights. The murderous "anti-drug"
campaign and the Anti-Terrorism law gave impunity to the perpetrators while fabricating
incident reports targeting the marginalized sectors of the country with scarce
investigations. It is reasonable to conclude that the present administration's anti-drug
campaign, which includes the Philippine Anti-Terrorism Law of 2020, exacerbates
excessive use of force. Torture and other forms of abuse are fabricated, rarely
investigated, and primarily targeted at impoverished people. In a democratic country,
the citizen has the right to criticize its government. It would be a litmus test for us to see
how the current administration will utilize the Anti-Terrorism Law to silence ordinary
Filipino's criticism. People must continue to assist and support various human rights
projects, advocacies, and organizations as they dispute the law until it is amended for
the next congress. On the other hand, the Philippine police should strictly follow due
process in punishing the crime doer, no matter who issues the orders, because it
follows the right and respectable way of promoting protection and peace to its people.
References:

ABS-CBN News. (2018, June 21). Cops won't shelve 'Tambay' crackdown amid abuse
allegations. ABS. Retrieved April 26, 2022, from
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/21/18/cops-wont-shelve-tambay-crackdown-
amid-abuse-allegations 

Bueza, M., Cupin, B., Mendoza, G., & Manuel, W. (2017, March 30). Timeline: The
PNP's use of the term 'deaths under investigation'. RAPPLER. Retrieved April 25,
2022, from https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/165534-timeline-philippines-
pnp-deaths-under-investigation/ 

Cupin, B. (2017, March 2). PH police 'falsifying' evidence in Drugs War – Human Rights
Watch. RAPPLER. Retrieved April 25, 2022, from
https://www.rappler.com/nation/162986-hrw-report-extrajudicial-killings-witness-
accounts/ 

Esguerra, A. (2021, December 9). Philippine human rights groups dismayed after

Supreme Court rules parts of Anti-Terror Law Constitutional. VOA. Retrieved April
25, 2022, from https://www.voanews.com/a/philippine-human-rights-groups-
dismayed-after-supreme-court-rules-parts-of-anti-terror-law-constitutional/
6346624.html 

Human rights consequences of the "War on Drugs" in the Philippines. Human Rights
Watch. (2020, October 28). Retrieved April 25, 2022, from
https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/07/20/human-rights-consequences-war-drugs-
philippines 

Iyengar, R. (2016, August 25). The killing time: Inside Rodrigo Duterte's Drug War.
Time. Retrieved April 25, 2022, from https://time.com/4462352/rodrigo-duterte-
drug-war-drugs-philippines-killing/ 

Killings in Philippines up 50 percent during pandemic. Human Rights Watch. (2020,

October 28). Retrieved April 25, 2022, from
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/08/killings-philippines-50-percent-during-
pandemic 

"License to kill". Human Rights Watch. (2017, July 13). Retrieved April 25, 2022, from
https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/03/02/license-kill/philippine-police-killings-
dutertes-war-drugs 

Philippines: Duterte's 'War on Drugs' is a war on the poor. Amnesty International. (2021,
October 11). Retrieved April 25, 2022, from
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/02/war-on-drugs-war-on-poor/ 
Philippines: Police deceit in 'Drug War' killings. Human Rights Watch. (2020, October
28). Retrieved April 25, 2022, from
https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/03/02/philippines-police-deceit-drug-war-killings 

Philippines: The Police's Murderous War on the poor. Amnesty International. (2021,
June 23). Retrieved April 21, 2022, from
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/01/philippines-the-police-murderous-
war-on-the-poor/ 

Placido, D. (2018, June 22). Palace denies Duterte's anti-'tambay' order targets the
poor. ABS. Retrieved April 26, 2022, from
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/22/18/palace-denies-dutertes-anti-tambay-
order-targets-the-poor 

Tupas, T. T. (2021, October 20). Drug War details out: Probe shatters cops 'nanlaban'
narratives in 52 cases. INQUIRER.net. Retrieved May 10, 2022, from
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1504373/probe-shatters-cops-nanlaban-narratives-in-
52-cases 

Similarity score: