EDITORIAL - From crime to politics

Since the 1980s, Ozamiz City’s Parojinog clan has been linked to crime. Patriarch Octavio Parojinog Sr. originally headed an anti-communist militia group formed by the military. Called the Kuratong Baleleng, the vigilante group shifted to criminal activities after the government tried to disband the team.

From protection rackets to extortion and illegal gambling, the gang expanded to bank and armored van robberies. The main group and smaller units began operating in other parts of the country including Metro Manila. Octavio Parojinog Sr. was shot dead by a police team in 1990 reportedly when he tried to resist arrest. Police said his sons Renato and Reynaldo took over the gang, with members of the arresting team that killed their father being murdered one by one.

Early yesterday, in raids by the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Ozamiz, Reynaldo, his wife Susan and brother Octavio Jr. were shot dead together with 12 of their aides and bodyguards. The mayor’s daughter Nova was arrested.

Reynaldo was the mayor of Ozamiz; his daughter is the vice mayor. Octavio Jr. was a provincial board member. How did persons linked by police to one of the nation’s most notorious crime rings become local government officials?

The nation has laws against all the crimes attributed to the Kuratong Baleleng gang. There are laws against money laundering, which could have been used to trace dirty money. Laws against tax evasion and unexplained wealth could have been applied against the Parojinogs especially when they became government officials. Yet the clan managed to thrive, and even develop an image as Robin Hoods of Ozamiz.

That Robin Hood image, according to previous reports, stemmed from the clan’s sharing of ill-gotten wealth with Ozamiz residents especially during elections. In this the clan is not unique. Lawmakers, with an eye to self-preservation, have stubbornly resisted proposals to strictly regulate campaign finance. This has made election campaigns in this country the perfect vehicles for laundering dirty money. This has also paved the way for the rise of narco politicians.

Reynaldo Parojinog was on President Duterte’s list of narco politicians, like the late Albuera mayor Rolando Espinosa and Saudi Ampatuan town mayor Samsudin Dimaukom. As the President himself has pointed out, he can’t kill everyone on the list. Unless reforms are implemented, there will be others like the Parojinogs who will exploit the weaknesses of the law, using dirty money to build a power base and profit even more from crime.