On the first day of his presidency, during the turnover of command ceremonies at the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City, President Duterte boasted that he knows the scalawags in the police service.
He issued a strong warning: “I know kung sino ang mga general who are tainted with corruption. You better resign. You have no more future in the police.. I know how you operate.. I will not run this country with a corrupt police.”
In his seven months in office under his relentless drive against illegal drugs, there have been several reports of police abuses. Extra-judicial killings have become a daily occurrence. Impunity by members of the police has reached levels never imagined.
The latest was the killing of a South Korean official of Hanjin Shipping, a South Korean company last October 17 after he was abducted from his residence in Angeles City allegedly by members of the PNP’s Anti-Illegal Drugs Group led by SPO3 Ricky Sta. Isabel.