EDITORIAL - Respect for the law

With both the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police coming up with the same conclusions, President Aquino ordered this week the filing of criminal charges against 35 police and military officers behind the killing of 13 men in Atimonan, Quezon on Jan. 6. The President adopted in full the recommendations of the NBI, which concluded that the 13 men were summarily executed by a joint police and military team.

Those who face indictment for multiple murder and obstruction of justice include the ground commander, police Superintendent Hansel Marantan, and Chief Superintendent James Melad, who was sacked as regional police chief of Calabarzon.

Not surprisingly, the most vocal defender of the security team has been Sen. Panfilo Lacson. A mentor of Melad and Marantan, Lacson has also been implicated, although only through the principle of command responsibility when he was in the police force, in cases of summary executions. Lacson insists that the incident in Atimonan was a legitimate law enforcement operation.

Defenders of the operation say the prosecution of the security team would create fear among lawmen and prevent them from doing their job. This is a self-serving argument of those whose idea of effective law enforcement is taking short cuts and setting aside the law. It is the argument of those who see nothing wrong in dismissing 12 lives as collateral damage to neutralize one crime suspect.

Some people impatient with inefficiency, corruption and slow action in the criminal justice system tend to support such short cuts to curb criminality – until someone they know or, worse, someone dear to them becomes collateral damage in a “legitimate” law enforcement operation.

Allowing lawmen to get away with kidnapping, torture and murder encourages abuses. Not all “salvage” victims are notorious criminals. What crime, for example, did publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito commit to warrant being tortured, killed and then burned? Lacson’s former police operatives are still on trial for the grisly twin killings.

President Aquino, whose parents championed human rights, should want justice rendered in the Atimonan case. Summary executions and other short cuts to law enforcement encourage laziness and lack of professionalism in the police force. If the prosecution of Melad, Marantan and the others strikes fear in the hearts of law enforcers, then it’s a welcome development on the road to developing a professional police force. Even law enforcers must fear – and respect – the law.