President Duterte recently said he would allow people to beat up erring policemen who extort money from them.
The President asserted that he does not tolerate “kotong” or mulcting cops as he urged the public to report to his office any corruption complaint involving law enforcers.
“Pulis, biktima ka ng ano – hingi, ganun, kotong. Kunin mo ‘yung pangalan. Pupunta ako dito, magkita tayo sa airport. Wala akong panahon, tawagin ko ‘yung buang na ‘yun. Sabihin ko, ‘Sige, bugbugin mo’,” Duterte said during the PDP-Laban campaign rally in Negros Occidental.
Duterte urged anew government workers, including policemen, to shun corruption and serve the people well. He warned that he would fire public servants and file cases against them if they get involved in corruption and abuse.
He said he once asked a suspected corrupt official to swallow money or else he would be thrown off the Pasig River.
“You must remember that we are government workers and we work for the people. We do not make it hard for them,” he said.
“What they want from government, huwag mong pabayarin ‘yan kasi hindi dapat ‘yang kotong-kotong,” he said.
The President issued the remarks a few days after rallying behind National Capital Region Police Office chief Police Major Gen. Guillermo Eleazar who roughed up a cop accused of extorting money from a drug suspect.
Duterte said he supports what Eleazar did to the fellow policeman. “I have his back covered,” he said in a speech in Malacañang last week.
During his visit to Negros Occidental, the President recalled that he ordered the dismissal of a group of Bacolod City policemen for suspected drug links.
Duterte said he voiced suspicion when the Bacolod cops visited a suspected drug lord at a hospital and even provided security for him at the facility.
“Anong nasa utak mo? Kaya sabi ko, ‘Umalis ka,'” he said, recalling his conversation with the Bacolod policemen.
Last January, the President relieved Bacolod police chief Police Col. Francisco Ebreo and four other police officers from their posts for allegedly allowing the proliferation of illegal drugs in their jurisdiction. He even accused Ebreo of being a drug protector. (Genalyn Kabiling)
