By Ade S. Fajardo
The Philippine National Police has announced its investigation into allegations that a quota and reward system was implemented during the Duterte administration’s war on illegal drugs.
PNP chief Rommel Marbil has announced the formation of a review panel to “thoroughly assess and evaluate Oplan Double Barrel, including Lt. Colonel Espenido’s disclosures.”
Lt. Colonel Jovie Espenido, poster boy of the drug war, testified in Congress last week that police units received rewards after every successful implementation of Oplan Tokhang — the famous phrase that meant summary executions in fulfillment of a bloody campaign promise.
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Espenido also referred to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) as among the sources of funding for the reward system.
It was in February 2017, or a little more than half a year after Rodrigo Duterte’s ascension to power, that he issued Executive Order No. 13 that legitimized POGO operations in the country.
Some lawmakers have recently challenged this EO as an unlawful exercise of legislative power. Is that a case of too-late-the-hero? The fact is that the country has seen how these POGOs have become extensions of criminal organizations capable of kidnapping, human, trafficking, and murder.
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Asked how it was possible that the PNP reward system could be connected to POGO operations, Espenido referred to conversations that are labeled by critics as hearsay evidence.
He told Congress that Mayor David Navarro of Clarin, Misamis Occidental, had described to him how POGO money was funneled down to the police network from a high-ranking government official who was close to the President.
Mayor Navarro was gunned down in a high-profile ambush in Cebu City while he was being transported to attend an inquest hearing in October 2019. Clarin is a neighboring town to Ozamiz City where the Parojinog crime family was subjected to search warrant operations and killed in the process.
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Navarro was peppered with bullets in broad daylight. A van blocked the vehicle carrying him as 10 men with high-powered firearms dragged him out and opened fire.
That was one of the most daring and brazen killings ever recorded in the history of the drug war. Navarro’s murder has always been connected to the Duterte’s feared drug list where he figured in at least two occasions.
It remains an unsolved crime, crying for answers once again as the Espenido revelation continues to rock the PNP officialdom.
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Was the mention of Navarro’s name meant to provoke a second hard look into his killing? Will looking further into hearsay testimony uncover the link between gambling money and extrajudicial killings?
Former Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog was luckier. Being on the drug list was a death sentence, and he evaded it by fleeing the country at the most auspicious time. Espenido himself said Duterte’s list was subject to amendments, depending on the games that police generals wanted to play.
Navarro’s wife said the Clarin mayor had suspected he would be killed. Was there prize money involved? If there was, then he correctly prophesied his own demise./WDJ