(Eagle News)–The Palace on Thursday, Feb. 28, said the government has no tolerance for rogue policemen.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo issued the statement after a latest Social Weather Stations survey said that the majority of Filipinos believe some men in uniform were engaged in illegal activities.
The December 2018 survey said 68 percent believe policemen themselves were definitely or probably behind the illegal drug trade, while 66 percent believe they were definitely or possibly engaged in extrajudicial killings.
To boost his argument, Panelo noted the conviction of three policemen allegedly behind the killing of Kian delos Santos in August 2017.
According to Panelo, “while there is no denying that there are erring policemen within their ranks,” the PNP has also “done internal cleansing efforts such as the activation of the Counter-Intelligence Task Force (CITF) tasked to go after policemen involved in unlawful activities.”
“Such actions show that we in the administration are intolerant with any kind of abuse coming from those whose duty is to serve and protect the Filipino people,” Panelo said.
As for SWS, Panelo said it should have asked respondents about the good deeds of policemen “in the spirit of fairness.”
He said a PNP report has showed that 165 police officers were killed and 575 were hurt in the drug war.
“These figures dispel allegations of critics and detractors on legitimate drug operations and show that drug pushers and addicts actually resort to violence when confronted with a threat of apprehension,” he said.
“Indeed, illegal drugs, particularly methamphetamine or shabu, alter emotions and cause anger and fear on the part of the user so we are not dumbfounded when violent encounters ensue during police operations,” he added.
