What happened?
Three suspected marijuana peddlers: 23-year-old Rexcel John Hipolito, 21-year-old Ronald Jae Dizon, and 18-year-old Ivan Serrano were allegedly kidnapped by police officers with the help of “police assets.”
In an interview with “24 oras,” 2 brothers, who wish to keep their identities hidden, claimed that they were hired by the police to snuff out suspected drug offenders.
Claims of the alleged “Police Assets”
The two suspects, who claimed that they were pushed to do this kind of work because of poverty, were introduced to a unit in the Philippine National Police (PNP) by a friend. According to the brothers, they earned as much as P500,000 for each drug suspect that they pinpointed to the police and were also given food and a safehouse as a reward for their services.
"Magtuturo ako ng subject, 'yong huhulihin po. Ngayon, hindi kasi makakagalaw ang mga pulis kapag wala po silang asset kasi doon po sila kumukuha ng trabaho," one of the suspects said. (I point out a subject, the one who is going to be arrested. This is because the police will not be able to do anything if they do not have assets there because that is where they get work from.)
The suspects also stated that the three missing men - Hipolito, Dizon, and Serrano - could have also already been killed by policemen.
Claims of the Police
PNP chief Eleazar has promised to cooperate with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in the case of the supposed use of illegal police assets. This method is illegal because due process is not followed. If the said allegations turn out to be true, Eleazar has vowed to punish the offenders in question and take precautions to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque also released a statement that the incident is currently being investigated but that they have yet to find substantial evidence to back up the claims of the 2 brothers.
“Madali lang sabihin ‘yang ganyang bagay [na bayarang police asset sila]. Antayin natin ang imbestigasyon,” Roque said. (It is easy to say that they were being paid by the police as police assets, but let us wait for the investigation.)
Implications
With the possible International Criminal Court (ICC) probe still fresh in the minds of Filipinos, this incident, if proven true, could uncover more incidents of the abuse of power by police officers in the country. According to ICC numbers, 12,000 to 30,000 drug suspects have been killed by vigilantes working with the police. Nonetheless, these allegations still have yet to be proven true, making it too early to determine all the possible abuses committed and their implications.
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