Reappointment, not charges, for police exec linked to South Korean trader's death? -- Pangilinan

Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan on Sunday criticized the appointment, as new anti-drug chief, of the police official who headed the unit allegedly involved in the scandalous abduction and murder of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo last year.

"Lalo lang lalakas ang loob ng pulis na gumawa ng hindi tama at abusuhin ang pwesto dahil promotion sa halip na parusa ang naghihintay sa kanila," said the Partido Liberal president. The Philippine National Police announced the appointment of Senior Superintendent Albert Ignatius Ferro, former head of the dissolved PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG), on Saturday, or 3 days after President Rodrigo Duterte formally announced the PNP's return to his war on drugs.

"Si Ferro lang ba ang tauhan ng PNP na may kakayahang mamuno sa DEG at siya ang pinili? Mas marami naman siguro diyan na walang bahid ang pangalan at mas karapat-dapat na mamuno sa nasabing unit," said Pangilinan.

He said the PNP should be more circumspect in assigning their personnel, especially in sensitive and controversial posts like the DEG, as it could further place the government's campaign against illegal drugs in a negative light.

"How can the people trust the PNP's campaign against illegal drugs if those people spearheading it are involved in controversy, like the Jee Ick Joo case, which remains unsolved until now and the victim's family is still crying for justice?" Pangilinan asked.

"If the PNP wants to regain the people's trust, then it should appoint officials with unblemished reputations in its war against drugs," he added.

Many have criticized President Duterte's decision to bring the PNP back to the drug war, saying it will bring back the horrors of the thousands of deaths in the bloody campaign against illegal drugs.