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Thursday, June 01, 2006
Espinoza: Extorting money from police applicants
By Elias L. Espinoza
While the policemen accused recently of extorting money from police applicants are still entitled to the presumption of innocence, the fact remains that they have further dirtied the already shattered image of the police organization.
Extortion breeds corruption. It is not surprising, therefore, if young policemen or fresh graduates from the police academy lose their idealism after only months in the service.
I know that there are still conscientious policemen. However, the negative perception on the police organization is so widespread the police hierarchy needs to correct the setup.
News of policemen extorting money from police applicants is not new. Every time recruitment of new policemen starts, the problem surfaces. This only means the police hierarchy has failed to correct this malady.
Which reminds me of my experience after the declaration of Martial Law in 1972. Unemployed and unable to enroll in college because of financial constraints, I tried joining the then Philippine Constabulary in Camp Making, Cotabato.
I used whatever little resources my poor parents had then just to be able to travel to Cotabato at a time when the battle between the Black Shirts and Ilagas was at its height. Together with four of my town mates, I traveled two days to Camp Making only to be told by one of the recruiting officers that our clearances were not in order.
Being provincianos (in order words, naïve), we asked the other applicants about the requirements. We learned that for our papers to be processed, it should be accompanied with grease money. Others said we need padrinos who were officers of the force. At that time, politicians were out of the picture in the recruitment of constables.
To cut the story short, we did not make it for lack of money and a padrino. But it was apparently providential that my application was trashed, or I would not have finished my college studies, become a lawyer and become part of the fourth state.
My point here is that corruption in the recruitment of policemen has been in existence for decades. This can be partly attributed to the high unemployment rate, which forces applicants to use all means just to get the job. The difference now is that those victimized are outspoken and the media is active and vigilant against wrongdoing in government.
Indeed, complaints of favoritism, irregularities, and extortion always crop up every time there is recruitment of policemen. But it is only now that the top honchos in the regional police office have attended to this problem with positive results.
Supt. Jun Marquez and the officers responsible for the arrest of SPO3 Uldarico Geroy deserve praise. And we need people like the police applicant who had the courage to expose the wrongdoing of Geroy and the others.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 1, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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