SANTA Banana, I never thought that the police who are implementing President Duterte’s war against illegal drugs could go so low and commit barbaric acts against their fellowmen!
The Commission on Human Rights discovered a secret cell hidden behind a bookcase in a police station in Tondo, Manila. In it were a dozen men and women. They had very poor ventilation and used plastic bags as toilets. This is the perfect example of what the war on drugs has come to.
To make matters worse, Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa defended the cops in question. He said the CHR’s timing was suspect because the raid took place during the Asean summit.
Dela Rosa’s defense of a clearly illegal act under the Anti-Torture Act shows his ignorance of the law. It has also promoted the climate of impunity.
According to police records, the arrest of the 12 men and women were not even recorded. There are claims the police were asking them to fork over thousands of pesos for their release.
Look on the bright side. At least they were not summarily executed for “resisting arrest.”
I cannot understand Dela Rosa’s defense of this dastardly act. That secret cell is an outright violation of the law.
Are there any more secret cells we need to know about?
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It’s understandable, President Duterte’s bland chairman’s statement that ignored last year’s international ruling outlawing China’s sweeping claims in key waterways along the South China Sea.
While some analysts and foreign policy observers said that it was a lost opportunity for the Philippines which hosted the summit, President Duterte knows that the inclusion of the arbitral ruling in favor of the Philippines using the Asean could further raise tension between the Philippines and China.
For one thing, China doesn’t recognize The Hague’s arbitral ruling against its incursion into the South China Sea. More importantly, China wants bilateral, not multi-lateral, solutions in resolving maritime disputes. There’s also the fact that Asean members like Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are friendly to China.
China has been turning reefs and shoals in areas of the sea claimed by the Philippines and other nations into artificial islands, and installing military facilities in them. Asean members Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also claim parts of the South China Sea, but China insists it has sovereign rights over nearly all of it.
I say the real winner in the Asean summit was China, and thanks to President Duterte for holding his punches on the South China Sea disputes.
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The fact that illegal gambling prevails nationwide can be gleaned from reports that big-time gambling lords, including Charlie “Atong” Ang, are allegedly out to destroy President Duterte’s war on illegal gambling by conniving with some lawmakers to declare the expanded Small Town Lottery illegal.
With the approval by the President for the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office to expand the STL, there’s now a quarrel between illegal gambling lords and politicians for their share of the profits from jueteng as it is known in Luzon, “masiao” in the Visayas and the “last 2” of anything in Mindanao. Those given STL franchises by the PCSO are also gambling lords.
It is known that mayors, governors and even members of Congress get elected because of illegal gambling. They themselves are involved.
Illegal gambling is a menace comparable to illegal drugs because of the extent of corruption involved in them. Of all people, President Duterte, a former mayor, should be aware of this.
Corruption is said to go all the way up to Fort Aguinaldo and Camp Crame.
And if jueteng were to be eradicated in Pampanga, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija, the residents of the communities would protest since almost everybody is involved, like the “cabos,” who collect the bets, and the “cobradores,” who pay winning bets.
It was easily adopted by Filipinos because of the high probability of winning with only a small amount of betting. That’s the reason why jueteng is being broadcast over community radio twice or thrice a day. It is popular among the poor. It’s the only way they can expect to earn money because of joblessness.
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I’m saddened by reports that Cafe by the Ruins, a restaurant in Baguio City, was gutted over the weekend. Whenever my family goes to Baguio, we almost always take a meal there. It has been there for as long as I can remember.