Lim warns cops versus preying on drug users

MANILA, Philippines - Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim warned Manila policemen that they will be dismissed from service if they extort money or goods from drug users.

Lim said drug users should be rehabilitated and should not be made milking cows by some unscrupulous police officers.

“Do not use your uniform, your badge and your gun to intimidate drug victims. We should hunt down the drug pushers who destroy the lives of their victims,” Lim said in his speech at the launching of the renewed anti-drug campaign in Binondo, Manila Saturday.

Lim, who was once Manila police chief before joining politics, cited the case of Chief Inspector Resty Nicandro, former anti-drugs chief of the Sampaloc police station, whom he ordered jailed for allegedly planting evidence on a suspected drug users.

“This kind of policeman… should not stay long in service,” Lim said, saying Nicandro and others like him destroy the image of the police force.

Lim also offered to provide legal services to policemen who will be harassed by drug syndicates while performing their duties.

The mayor also commended Meisic police station chief Superintendent Nelson Yabut for the arrest of a suspected Chinese triad gang member in Binondo last Wednesday.

Yabut said they have reports that Chiu Bing Hung, alias Victor Chiu, is allegedly scouting for a place to build a shabu laboratory in Manila.– Nestor Etolle