When Law Enforcers Flout the Law

Following the recent Department of Justice (DOJ) resolution recommending the filing of criminal charges against at least 30 police officers involved in a "staged" P6.7-billion "shabu" bust in Manila in 2022, the government said it was launching a police investigation into drug seizures dating back to 2016, when then President Rodrigo Duterte launched his brutal anti-illegal drugs campaign.

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During the House quad committee hearing last year, a retired police colonel revealed that the former president had offered cash rewards for every drug suspect killed in his bloody anti-narcotics campaign, which led to thousands of extrajudicial killings.

After initially refuting the existence of a reward system for police operatives, Duterte confirmed it before the same committee in November last year.

Interior Secretary Juanito Remulla told media that the government's working theory was that the police reward system encouraged a scheme where cops would seize drugs, report only a portion, and stash the rest for future arrests and further cash reward.

There appeared to be "a grand conspiracy to conceal a criminal enterprise within the (Philippine National Police)," he added.