Having zero tolerance for abuse of power, President Duterte has warned that police scalawags involved in kidnapping and murder would āsuffer the same fateā as their victims.
Amid the public outcry over the killing of a South Korean businessman inside the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City, the President said it was only a matter time before he catches rogue cops and make them pay for their offenses.
āGaya ng pulis na nag-kidnap, aba they willā¦ Sabi ko nga, kayong mga nasa gobyerno, I donāt know about your officers, but if you ask me, you will suffer the same fate. You will suffer the same fate,ā the President said during a recent oath-taking of police officials in MalacaƱang. āEwan ko kung kailan, pero may araw talaga na ma-timingan ko kayo,ā he added.
The President said he would personally deal with the erring government personnel, adding that he has never ordered PNP chief Director General Ronald M. dela Rosa and other policemen to take the law into their hands. āIāve always said, āpapatayin ko kayo,ā Duterte said.
After issuing such death threat, Duterte candidly revealed his experience as a hired gun during the police assembly in MalacaƱang.
āKasi noong hindi pa ako na-mayor killer man rin ako. Mura lang. Hindi masyado mahal ang kubra ko doon,ā he said.
āYou might take me one as an evil person but to me marami tayo dito,ā Duterte told the police officials in MalacaƱang.
The South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo was seized in his residence last October by a group of policemen under the pretense of a drug raid. The culprits reportedly pretended he was still alive to collect ransom from his family.
(GENALYN D. KABILING)