“I do know one thing about me: I don’t measure myself by others’ expectations or let others define my worth.” –US Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor

Those who expected newly-designated Bacolod City Police Office deputy operations director, Police Lt. Colonel Jovie Espenido, to single-handedly erase drug traffickers from the city are either high or foolish and naïve—he is not Hercules. He isn’t even “Dirty Harry.”
Espenido is a creation of the media. His sensationalized stints as police chief for other localities, where he led bloody crackdowns against prominent individuals involved with illegal drugs, were all done under the direct supervision and order from higher-ups associated with President Rodrigo Duterte’s iron-fist policy—the law enforcement officer did not become an instant star by killing the bad guys on the spot since any “wily and determined” cop performing the president’s wishes will also hog headlines for a “job well done.”
Espenido had a special task and was not an accidental hero.
Fans of extrajudicial killings lauded the police officer on his new assignment and he was presented to the media like a folk hero.
Even funnier is Espenido invoking the name of God when asked if his campaign against illegal drugs in Bacolod City would be bloody. He reportedly responded: “If it’s God’s will, hindi man tayo makasiguro nyan kasi ang sa atin trabaho lang. ‘Yung sa atin lang is the rule of law. ‘Yun man ang pinangarap ng Presidente natin na mandate ng batas sa PNP (Philippine National Police).”
It’s not “God’s will” to kill criminal suspects, much less those who have not been properly arrested and convicted in court; nor is executing unarmed civilians on suspicions they have links to illegal drugs. God’s law is just; man’s law is banal and imprecise.
By parading Espenido around and disclosing the nature of his assignment, the PNP has telegraphed their punches. Drug lords and other outlaws can prepare how to handle the PNP’s latest move.

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Aside from donating sports equipment to the Iloilo City Government, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) should be financing training for Ilonggo athletes.
Carlos Edriel Yulo, who recently captured gold in floor exercise at the 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, came from the grassroots and was given the skills to train abroad through financial assistance from PSC.

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Alex P. Vidal, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo./WDJ