Weeding out scalawag cops

criminal activities.

IT’S been a year and eight days since the ban on the appointment of election “losers” was lifted. Prior to his trip to the US of A, the president hinted he was considering some of these to head vacancies in the cabinet, perhaps even taking over existing filled-up positions.

But we wonder, why reserve posts for election losers? Do they have a monopoly of wisdom and a wealth of experience that no one else has?

Last week, the president said “tapos na ang OJT”—and indicated he might go beyond just filling up three Cabinet positions currently without “permanent” leaders, which we all presume to mean the DOH, the DND, and the DA where he himself acts as the head.

All three are very, very important posts that touch on three of our most pressing national concerns: health, food security, and national security.

Let me just focus today on food security.

We can roll out heavily subsidized Kadiwa stores each week wherever else in the country, but we will not be near enough to solving the high prices of food that bedevils every family in this country save for perhaps 5 percent of the very rich.

Last year, just as the present administration started, the DA already knew that there would be a supply problem with sugar. They briefed the president who was concurrent agriculture secretary.

Just when we thought we were over it after the December to February price upsurge, the DA now tells us that we will need to import at least 75,000 tons of the pungent bulbs so that we will not experience the same shortages in the latter part of this year, even if prices have begun to rise.

But onion farmers from Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan and Occidental Mindoro are crying they were shortchanged by the usual culprits—the middlemen, and were paid not just half but a quantum of the retail prices the TV networks bandy in their newscasts.

Meanwhile too, the earlier decapitated USec was resurrected, because he was after all just a fall guy, and who, had he been followed, may have been able to temper the price upsurge of sugar.

But this time, he was given charge of the single most important staple—rice.

Via a memorandum issued by the Executive Secretary by authority of the President dated April 20, 2023, the Senior Undersecretary was granted “general supervision” over the DA’s operations and personnel, while the resurrected undersecretary would have “oversight of operational activities and matters concerning the rice industry.”

The memorandum enumerated the fine lines of distinction of authority.

Among others, the resurrected USec would chair the NFA, the NIA, the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund Program, PhilRice and the IRRI Board of Trustees.

Now it just so happens that rice occupies pre-eminence in the hierarchy of DA’s concerns, and has the heftiest portion of the total budget.

Overlaps in functions and authorities will surely arise between the senior undersecretary who is truly so senior in age, and the resurrected undersecretary charged with the very important problem of ensuring there will be enough stocks of rice at affordable prices.

As we write, government holds less than 500,000 sacks of rice or 25,000 metric tons, equivalent to less than a day of the national consumption.

THEY may be considered a handful in an institution that counts more than 220,000 personnel.

But even if only 3,000 are believed to have violated internal rules and the law, they can damage the reputation of the entire institution.

That’s the rationale behind the move of the current leadership of the Philippine National Police to investigate several thousands of cops said to be misfi ts or scalawags to determine if they are really involved in illegal activities.

The erring police officers will have to undergo an adjudication process where allegations of wrongdoing will have to be validated by intelligence units.

The most common illegal activities of police officers are extortion and involvement in the illegal drug trade.

New PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. has ordered intensified

The country needs a police force that can serve and protect the citizenry

intelligence monitoring and legal offensives against misfits within their ranks.

This is a highly commendable move, particularly since recent news reports are saying that the Department of Interior and Local Government as the supervising agency of the PNP has recommended to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. the dismissal of two police generals and two colonels for alleged involvement in illegal drugs.

If even four senior police offi cials are reported to have taken part in the illegal drug trade, then Gen. Acorda has taken the right step in issuing an order to keep close tabs on police personnel suspected of corruption and