A ‘show off’ force

Over the weekend, many motorists who frequently travel in and out of Metro Manila, were startled by the large numbers of soldiers as well as policemen at various entry points to Metro Manila and nearby provinces such as Pampanga, Bulacan, Laguna, and Batangas.

The Loyalist forces of President Arroyo shamelessly declared that they were securing Imperial Manila from destabilizers and trouble makers. Or were they?

From all indications, the would-be defenders are the most unstable in terms of public acceptance and public support. Judging from the recent string of fiascos such as wide scale smuggling of oil and luxury cars and escalating to the ZTE scandal, we the people need to be defended from retired PMAers and cabinet members, not from hungry ghosts that are conjured by the leadership of the AFP and the PNP.

Perhaps now that the President has named the next chief of the PNP, we can expect the show of force (which is actually more of the show-offs showing support for PGMA) to be scaled down as they lift the siege of Metro Manila.

I hope that members of Congress as well as Secretary Gilbert Teodoro would look into the situation where the AFP and the PNP so casually encircle Metro Manila as if we were about to be attacked by armed and hostile forces.

Aside from the assault on our democratic senses, we must all be careful about giving soldiers and combat ready cops the wrong ideas such as how easy it would be to take over certain areas. Equally important are the unnecessary expenses that are wasted in these deployment exercises.

Given the never ending assurances of the AFP and the PNP’s loyalty to the government, what force could possibly be so strong and so well equipped to dare confront our men in uniform? If so why do we even need road block upon road block of policemen who are dressed and armed for conventional warfare and not urban police work?

But then again, who can blame the police for their show-off force? Bank robbers and payroll robbers shoot their victims in cold blood in the streets of Metro Manila. Barangays have to warn residents and visitors to be careful about motorcycle riding snatchers and robbers.

None exclusive barangays have been broken down to separate zones with their own “security guards” or tanods because the police can no longer do the job. The Quezon City police eventually had to shoot down carnappers just to get the message across that the Eastern Police District would no longer tolerate carnapping. 

Imagine exhuming a freshly buried body of a seven-year-old because the standard evidence gathering process may have been overlooked or not done properly. It was the police who declared that child was raped and murdered. Then the cops say the child might not have been raped. Now the news is that it may not be the child they were talking about!

When the scene of the crime operatives or SOCO was established, a TV station immediately turned it into a reality TV show. But the way things are going, the real-life SOCO may now be just for show.

This is what happens when an organization has become so politicized and operates on principles of SELF-PROMOTION and while rank and leadership has become a media management and public relations campaign.

Rather than concentrating on the job many key officers are now using media opportunities and “publicists” to get their face on national TV and radio instead of focusing on their job and their area of responsibility.

Perhaps Congress should also tighten the rules on giving desk jockeys and public information officers the rank of “General”. It has long been a sore point and a butt of jokes in the police and the AFP when people talk about “spokespersons” being promoted to “General”.

While most heroes die or lose a leg in combat and are discharged as sergeants, majors or whatever, some desk jockey with glib tongues get to be generals in air conditioned cars and press conferences!

Let’s all pray that the officers of the PNP would somehow come to their senses and realize that they need to focus more on the work and less on “SELF PROMOTION”.

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Speaking of “Real” cops, I hope that Mayor Fred Lim could pay the hospitals in his city a visit. At the Ospital ng Maynila I received a message that staff and interns are suffering because their elevator has been busted and they have to carry patients up to the third floor!

The inconvenience of walking up the stairs may be small but the risk of injury to the patients as well as back injuries on the part of interns who are there to train and not be manual labor is a serious matter. The last thing the hospital and the city needs are lawsuits for injury arising from the city government’s failure to maintain services.

Perhaps Mayor Lim should call in his hospital officials and his maintenance engineers. Someone is obviously not taking their responsibilities seriously. Just to get things moving faster, Mayor Lim could require the people responsible to help carry patients to the third floor for a week. That should give them incentive!

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If Mayor Jojo Binay is not too busy hosting business events and opposition rallies, may we ask the good Mayor to please do something about the absence of visible one way signs and no left or right turn signs on the corner of Makati avenue between P. Burgos and Kalayaan avenue.

Motorists who are not from the Philippines or are from the provinces are continually being VICTIMIZED by a group of MAPSA personnel who wait for prey especially during the evenings.

We have reported the matter to the Mayor’s special assistant many months back but chances are nothing is being done about it because it is a very profitable area for the MAPSA. Just because the locals know the traffic schemes does not free the city from the responsibility of putting up the appropriate signs and warnings.

It is one thing to implement the law, but it is totally another to make it a money-maker. Fair is fair, Mayor. Don’t call others thieves if your own people are robbing innocent victims.