Regulator gets tough on errant insurers

Mention a policeman in the Philippines and immediately, what comes to mind is a bad cop. A policeman is always associated with kotong (mulcting) activities against hapless taxi and jeepney drivers. In cartoons, they are described as buwaya (crocodiles) and ridiculed as pot bellied men in uniform hiding behind lampposts or waiting sheds, just waiting for somebody to victimize over trumped-up traffic violations or other charges.  Even today, there are still people who think so low of policemen that whenever they read about kidnap-for-ransom cases or robberies and holdups, they sarcastically say that the mastermind is probably a policeman. Let’s face it, in this country, the police are almost always blamed for anything and everything – from traffic jams to smuggling, drug dealing to jueteng to protection rackets which allow the proliferation of gambling joints, girlie bars and prostitution dens. In short, people think policemen are corrupt, who use their position to engage in illegal activities and enrich themselves.

Unfortunately, a bad cop is like a rotten apple that can affect the whole basket. And we’ve become so used to the idea of “bad cops” that when we hear about a “good cop,” it surprises people no end – like this police officer whose promising career was cut short by ruthless criminals. Superintendent Jovem Bocalbos has just assumed his post as deputy chief of the Makati City Police. With his rank as colonel, cynics would naturally assume he would have a lot of means to earn “extra income” without having to lift a finger. But last week, the police colonel was shot in the nape by holdup men – while working like an ordinary driver, ferrying passengers on the side in order to survive and make ends meet.

Jovem Bocalbos had three young children aged 13, 12 and six, and every night before his shift starts at 8 p.m., he would ply the Quezon Avenue-Almar Zabarte route in Novaliches to earn additional income, since obviously his pay as a policeman is not enough to comfortably support his family. According to his wife, they bought the Nissan Urvan last February and it was only recently that Bocalbos thought of converting it into a public utility vehicle. He ferried passengers for fun, and he also did not want anybody else driving his vehicle. Apparently, a lot of police officers moonlight as drivers or engage in buy and sell and other activities to add to their meager earnings. As one police officer put it, the sidelines and other odd jobs that policemen do are all pantawid-gutom – a means to relieve hunger – but through decent and legit means.

Here was a decent guy, a model officer who never had any case filed against him, engaging in a legal activity to supplement his salary – in stark contrast to the image people usually have about bad cops engaged in questionable “sidelines.” Bocalbos comes from a family of cops – the youngest among five brother policemen – and according to the information that reached us, was a highly accomplished and well respected officer. He graduated second in the Philippine National Police Academy Class of 1991, and was the topnotcher in his intelligence course class. He was said to have been adept with the work of a police community relations officer, and he showed very good writing skills which is why he also became a public information officer.

There are speculations that his previous work as an intelligence officer could have made him a target of an assassination, especially with reports that one of the holdup men told Bocalbos – just before they shot him – that he was also a police officer so he knew the style of the victim. But it’s probably more likely that the holdup men didn’t know Bocalbos was a policeman and decided to shoot him after finding a gun strapped to his waist. Those who knew the police colonel said that under normal circumstances, he would have fought off the criminals. But he probably knew he was outnumbered and any resistance on his part would have just put the other passengers in more danger.

Policemen – and other men in uniform and law enforcement agents – risk a lot in doing their jobs. For what little pay and benefit they receive, they’re the ones who have to face the barrel of a gun as they go after carnappers, kidnappers and other dangerous criminals. When news comes out of a shootout between cops and robbers, people are so ready to condemn the officers and even speculate about the encounter as a “rubout.” Yet there are a lot of stories out there about a police officer losing his job – oftentimes his life – just because he dared to go against a big time criminal, or for issuing a traffic ticket against a government official or some big shot. 

The senseless killing of Jovem Bocalbos – an honest, decent policeman taking on an honest job to provide for his family – clearly illustrates the sad plight of a lot of our police officers today. Instead of spending on frivolous things like junkets and senseless legislation like renaming streets and putting up endless basketball courts and waiting sheds, our congressmen should draft a law to improve the pay and benefits of our policemen. They are grossly underpaid, and it’s about time government did something to improve their lot. This country would like to see more good cops – like Jovem Bocalbos – rather than the bad cops.

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