DAVAO City–An official of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) said the practice of sending scalawags in the National Police to Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-tawi should stop, especially under a President and police chief who are both from Mindanao.
“It reflects bias and prejudice. The mindset of Spanish colonizers who exiled Rizal to Dapitan. This is how Muslims live when they become part of a non-Muslim country,” said Fatmawati Salapuddin, a commissioner representing Tausugs at the NCMF.
Salapuddin pointed out that National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa comes from Mindanao yet he “still carries biases and prejudice against Muslims.”
She said dela Rosa also spent a few semesters at the Mindanao State University (MSU) main campus in Marawi City before he entered the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).
Fr. Eliseo Mercado, Jr., former President of the Notre Dame University in Cotabato City, said he hopes President Duterte “will put an end to this practice.”
“This is the usual practice and woe to poor provinces that deserve better… The scoundrels and scalawags ought to be dismissed and not assigned to Sulu or Basilan or Tawi-tawi! These places deserve decent and good policemen and women,” Mercado said.
In a press briefing on Monday, dela Rosa said he would send scalawags “to Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi to fight the Abu Sayyaf.”
Sharifa Pearlsia Ali-Dans, assistant secretary at the Department of Interior and Local Government in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm), said “if their intention to send the scalawags to Sulu is to punish them then they have achieved that at our expense.
“The question is will their presence enhance the already worsening state of unpeace situation? This is a what bothers us. More than ever, Sulu is not a garbage can meant only for undesirables. What we need are officers with the zeal and dedication to restore public order, where everyone is safe and secure. This is the clamor of the people.”
Human Rights defender Temogen Tulawie, also of Sulu, said “Sulu is in deep trouble, so definitely we don’t need police scalawags.”
“What Sulu needs are policemen like ‘Bato.’ If they want to finish those scalawags, they should send them to jail and prosecute. They should not just be relieved or transferred. That’s not right,” said Tulawie.
Duterte’s family settled in Mindanao when he was a young boy while dela Rosa hails from Barangay Bato in Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur. (carolyn arguillas of mindanews)
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