EDITORIAL - Zero tolerance for rights abuses

Rodrigo Duterte marked his 81st birthday on March 28 at the Scheveningen Prison in The Hague because of the killing of thousands of people by police in his brutal crackdown on illegal drugs, when he was mayor of Davao City and then as president.

Fearing a similar fate, the chief enforcer of Duterte’s war on drugs, former Philippine National Police and Davao City police chief Ronald dela Rosa has been absent from the Senate since going into hiding in November last year.

When President Marcos assumed power in 2022, the government changed its approach to the illegal drug scourge and criminality in general, vowing transparency and respect for human rights.

Rights advocates have pointed out that police compliance with the policy remains wanting. Still, the shift in tactics has been noteworthy. And President Marcos sounds credible when he exhorts graduates of the PNP Academy to have “zero tolerance” for human rights abuses.

PNP officials have been touting gains in the anti-narcotics campaign without resorting to violence, torture and the take-no-prisoners approach of the previous administration. This stance must be sustained without compromising the fight against drug traffickers.

Illegal drugs not only destroy abusers and fuel other crimes, but also engender corruption and money laundering. The illegal drug trade is big business. The huge profits have allowed drug dealers to enter politics in several countries including the Philippines, or to bankroll the campaigns of elective officials, who upon victory can then protect the lucrative illegal trade of the donors.

Zero tolerance for corruption was another message of President Marcos to the PNPA graduates last Friday. It was issued on the heels of recent convictions of former top PNP officials for corruption-related offenses involving various deals.

They were just the latest police officials to be tainted with graft since the organization of the PNP, whose first chief himself was charged with corruption over “ghost” purchases of uniforms and equipment, but died before judgment was rendered.

PNP members must uphold human rights not only in fighting criminality, but also in respecting women. In the past months, police officers have been accused of sexual harassment and rape by their female colleagues, with one police major dismissed from the service for sexually molesting a male PNPA cadet.

This Women’s Month, Brig. Gen. Jessie Tamayao resigned as Highway Patrol Group director after a policewoman accused him of sexual harassment. Tamayao said his resignation was meant to facilitate due process and was not an admission of guilt.

Reforms and cleansing are ongoing in the PNP, but there’s still a wide room for improvement in the aspirational zero tolerance for corruption and human rights abuses.