Come out and talk

During his presidency, Rodrigo Duterte often reassured members of the Philippine National Police, especially those involved in his bloody crackdown on illegal drugs, that he had their back, and that in case of a criminal investigation, he would be the only one to go to jail for drug-related killings.

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Recent developments should show PNP members that this reassurance is as empty as Duterte's campaign promise to eliminate the drug scourge nationwide within six months of assuming power in 2016. Today, several former officials who played key roles in his administration have started talking about the gross abuses that have been widely suspected, but never validated, in the so-called war on drugs.

Other PNP members who carried out the war, whether retired or still in active duty, should do the same, if not to assuage their conscience, then to reduce the possible criminal indictments and punishment they could face for engaging in extrajudicial killings.