Batas Mauricio IF we think that we have seen the last of criminal activities and heinous crimes committed by policemen on account of the public uproar over the kidnap-slaying of Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo by elements of the anti-illegal drugs unit of the Philippine National Police (PNP), think again! Similar kinds of police criminal behavior also surfaced in the past and resulted in similar uproars, but the Jee Ick Joo murder, right inside the PNP national headquarters in Camp Crame, proved that some policemen would always be criminals out to earn millions for themselves and, perhaps, even for their superiors. Why has this happened and is still happening, even in the face of a President who threatens criminals with death? The reason is clear, but no one in government and in the private sector really pays attention, until the next heinous or brutal crime is committed by men in police uniforms once again. If we look around us today, we will not fail to see that there is a pervading evil among our citizenry, whether they be in government or working some place else. Many of us appear religious and spiritual, and project an image of being righteous and obedient to the laws, but the truth is that our minds are evidently controlled by what has been written about as the “spiritual forces of evil”. This is a malady that is seen not only among adult Filipinos almost everywhere, but even among the very young kids who are still virtually connected to the navels of their mothers. How did this happen and why is it continuing to happen? The reason is clear, and it is that we are no longer listening to, nor obeying the commands of, God! Nobody cares anymore to know God’s Word, and His commands. Everybody now insists on their own personal predilections, or wishes, or desires, even if they run contrary to what God is saying in His Bible, and even if they cause harm and prejudice to other citizens. This is truly sad, but it is happening, and will continue to happen.
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What is shameful is not that a mere police patrolman like SPO3 Ricky Sta. Isabel has declared in his name P20.3 million in assets even if his salary is a measly P8,000 a month. What is truly shameful is that knowing this patrolman had so much money and properties in his name as shown by his statement of assets and liabilities and net worth, the PNP didn’t even bother to investigate him how he became so wealthy even if he was receiving a mere pittance of a monthly salary. The impression this gave to the Filipino nation which witnessed the Senate inquiry on Thursday is that, the PNP is not bothered at all that its foot patrolmen live the lifestyles of the fabulously rich and scandalously wealthy because, somehow, it expects its rank and file to acquire wealth while they are in the service. Indeed, one of the easiest ways to get rich nowadays, as the example of SPO3 Ricky Sta. Isabel has shown, is to be enlisted as a policeman and then assigned at the anti-illegal drugs unit of the PNP. Somehow, somewhere, sometime, in the discharge of the duties and responsibilities of an anti-illegal drugs operatives, miracles would happen that would enable him or her to stumble into a veritable pot of gold which would then make him or her greatly rich. Of course, the question here would be, what sort of miracle or pot of gold could be found at the anti-illegal drugs unit of the PNP that makes even its mere patrolmen thoroughly wealth? Sta. Isabel’s experience would tend to show that it is by kidnapping and extorting ransom from people who had been planted with evidence to implicate them in illegal drugs. Can we believe that this is not known to PNP higher-ups?   E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com