CAMP DANGWA, La Trinidad, Benguet – Concerned uniformed and non-uniformed personnel of the Police Regional Office (PRO-CAR) in the Cordillera revealed the recent reassignment of police officers within the offices of some members of a command group was designed to address the criticisms of the public for the allegedly coddling of a reported organic member with derogatory records related to illegal drugs.
Sources, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, claimed the recent movements done with some personnel of the command group was a clear admission on the part of the concerned police officials of their alleged coddling of a drug suspect that now casts doubt on the integrity and credibility to pursue internal cleansing within the ranks of the region’s police force when certain officials tolerated the existence of a drug suspect in their offices until it was exposed to the public.
“Some members of the command group no longer enjoy the trust and confidence of uniformed and non-uniformed personnel because they allegedly tried to hide the fact that some of the police officers assigned to their offices have derogatory records on illegal drugs. In fact, they are continuously pursuing their witch-hunting activities on who to blame regarding information being fed to the media on what is actually taking place inside the camp,” the sources stressed.
The concerned sources claimed the police officer who had derogatory records on illegal drugs reported to Mindanao at the height of the present administration’s campaign against illegal drugs but to the surprise of PRO-COR officials and employees, the said officer was then accommodated in the office of one of the members of the command that resulted to the demoralization of the region’s police force.
According to them, the reassignment of the police officer involved to another office does not cure the problem it brought to the overall image of the PNP because it just showed that ranking regional police officials could easily circumvent the campaign against illegal drugs to suit their reported personal and political interests.
The sources also questioned the wisdom of transferring police officers who agreed with comments in the social media against the transfer of a traffic enforcer to Apayao for doing his job to areas outside the region when they could not even order the transfer of the police officer involved in illegal drugs to Mindanao and instead coddled the said officer for still unknown reasons.
The sources explained that ranking police officials continue to try to embarrass those providing the media with vital information on what is happening inside the camp as if martial law reigns among their ranks in violation of informants’ freedom of expression.
They claimed curtailing them of their basic rights to avoid the issues and concerns inside the camp from being exposed to the public is contrary to the Duterte administration’s policy on transparent and accountable governance and freedom of information so that the public will be aware of what is happening within the ranks of the region’s police force as they the public, as taxpayers, deserves the right to know what is being done inside the camp.
By HENT