EDITORIAL — When communities protect crooks

Police are still looking for two drug suspects who killed a policemen who served as a poseur-buyer during a buy-bust operation last week.

One disturbing detail in their escape was that the two were aided by a barangay official, who allegedly even went to the extent of assigning a barangay vehicle to help them flee. To be fair this has yet to be proven true, but if it is this ranks among the bigger offenses barangay officials can commit.

In another case, a couple in Barangay Pahina Central allegedly helped their son escape policemen who came to serve an arrest warrant against him. In turn, they were both arrested for obstruction of justice.

This wouldn’t be the first time a family or even an entire community worked to protect a fugitive from justice or to disrupt police operations. Not too long ago, police records were rife with reports of entire communities banding together and rising up to prevent policemen from arresting a suspect or, worse, distracting the policemen enough to allow the already-apprehended suspect to escape.

They would form human barricades, or harass and even pelt the policemen with rocks and other projectiles. While this isn’t so common now, it still happens from time to time.

Ties due to blood, friendship, and community should be valued, it is to family and friends whom we run to during times of hardship after all; but not to the extent of protecting someone who is wanted by the law.

When communities protect crooks, ultimately it will be the community itself that will suffer. Because during the most desperate of situations or when pushed to a corner the crooks usually think nothing of turning on their own to protect themselves.

It also does nothing for the reputation of a family or a community if they gain the ill repute of one that readily aids criminals or becomes known as a place that one can flee to if they are wanted by the law.