MANILA – At least 284, or 17 percent of the total 1,671 “barangays” (villages) in Metro Manila are afflicted by the problem of illegal drugs, a ranking officer of the Philippine National Police (PNP) disclosed.
Deputy Director Leopoldo Bataoil, the chief of the PNP Metro Manila regional command, said the affected villages would be the objects of intensified illegal drug-clearing operations to be conducted by his men in coordination with local officials, civic groups and non-government organizations.
Bataoil said the renewed campaign is in line with the order of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for all law enforcement agencies to join forces in combating illegal drugs after she had taken over direct command of the anti-drug campaign.
He also warned policemen under his command that they would face stiff penalties if they bungled the prosecution of drug-related cases by failing to appear in court hearings as witnesses.
Under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, Bataoil said such failure to testify is punishable with an imprisonment of from 12 to 20 years in jail and a fine equivalent to $10,000.
The same law also penalizes the superiors of the erring policemen with the same jail term plus a fine of from $200 to $1,000, aside from dismissal from the service, he warned.
According to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), at least 600 of the more than 1,000 cases filed in court in the metropolis against suspected drug pushers were dismissed due to the failure of the arresting policemen to testify.
Bataoil said he received information that some of the unscrupulous policemen were bribed by absenting themselves as witnesses during court hearings.
This developed as the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) urged Metro Manila mayors to after about 233 “destructive gangs” composed mainly of minors engaged in drug-related offenses.
A PAOCC official disclosed that in the third quarter of 2008 alone, these gangs committed at least 79 serious crimes, ranging from robbery, physical injuries, auto thefts and even payroll robberies.
Apparently more alarming, the official said, is the presence of “chapters” in the metropolis of internationally known youth gangs, most of which are from the US, like the “True Brown Style,” “Creeps,” “Bloods,” “Reckless Asiatic Gangsta” and “Vacos Locos,” among others.
He said the PAOCC received information that these gangs require the new recruits in their chapters to commit robbery and resort to physical violence as part of their initiation rites.
The official added these gangs have expanded their organizations by forming chapters in other communities by recruiting out-of-school youths and even students.
Among the reasons cited by experts for the proliferation of these youth gangs, the official said, are: the suspects are not likely to be prosecuted for their crimes because they are minors; the unabated entry of illegal drugs especially in the villages; as well as parental neglect and similar domestic factors.
For this reason, the official urged a thorough review of the Juvenile Justice Act which provides that children 15 years old and below will be “criminally exempt” from the filing of charges.
He noted the law also provides that youth offenders, aged 15 to 18, can be criminally charged only if they acted out the crime “with discernment.”
Loading ...
Reader’s Views