Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said yesterday that the kidnapping and killing of Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo will not affect the credibility of the country’s war against illegal drugs.
Panelo said he is confident that the killing won’t affect “Oplan: Tokhang” even after the incident last October 18 was guised as a legitimate drug operation.
“It (Oplan: Tokhang) has been successful. Any impairment by this reason will not affect the success of the project,” Panelo said.
While the government cannot guarantee that such criminal act won’t happen anymore, Panelo said the government can assure the strict enforcement of the law.
He also said that the suspects behind the killing, particularly SPO3 Ricky Sta. Isabel, will pay for what they did, especially for committing the crime inside Camp Crame, Quezon City.
“The President will not tolerate police abuse, all the police scalawags will be prosecuted to the fullest under the law. They will pay for it,” he said.
Sen. Grace Poe said yesterday that the killing of Jee Ick Joo inside Camp Crame is a litmus test of PNP chief Director General Ronald M. dela Rosa’s vow that he will not tolerate criminal acts of his men.
“This is one case that he must show resolve, boldly that it will leave no doubt in the minds of our enraged citizenry that these men will be punished,” said Poe.
According to the senator, any hesitation on the part of Dela Rosa, or any move that will show partiality, will damage his reputation and the organization he leads. “It should be as swift as the way the PNP conducts Tokhang operations,” she said.
Poe said that outrage must also come from President Duterte, who, she said, “must be one with the people in demanding justice.”
“His condemnation must be forceful and unequivocal,” Poe added.
House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez yesterday demanded the resignation of Dela Rosa over the continued public outrage over the murder of Jee Ick Joo.
In a statement issued late yesterday afternoon, Alvarez said De La Rosa should sacrifice his post to “save President Rodrigo Duterte from further embarrassment and to restore respect to the Office of the PNP chief.”
“The commission of a heinous crime right in his very nose is not only an insult but a clear indication that he has lost the respect of his people,” said Alvarez, a key official of the PDP-Laban, the political party headed by the Chief Executive. (Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos, Elena L. Aben, and Ben R. Rosario)