12-M bounty for ‘ninja’ cops
Couple linked to illegal drugs gunned down in Aklan
Taking the drug problem as a national security threat, President Duterte has offered a 12million bounty for the arrest of “ninja” policemen or those coddling drug syndicates in the country.
This developed as the suspected No. 1 drug lord in Iloilo and his wife were gunned down at a seaport in Aklan yesterday.
In a speech at the observance of National Heroes Day yesterday, the President declared that dirty law enforcers will be first on his target list as he vowed to be “harsh” and relentless in the war on illegal drugs.
“I might be inclined to place a reward on their head – the members of the ninja or members of the police who are then protecting the drug syndicates in this country,” the
President said during the memorial for fallen heroes at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City.
“I’m placing per head 12 million and you might want to, ipagbili na ninyo ang mga kaibigan ninyo,” he added.
Iloilo ‘drug lord’ slain Earlier in the day, suspected Iloilo drug lord Melvin Odicta and his wife were shot to death by two gunmen at the Caticlan Jetty Port.
“Odicta was really being hunted. Sa Iloilo, siya ang No. 1. Inabot siya talaga ng malas [He was really hunted. In Iloilo, he was number one. Bad luck caught up with him],” Duterte said in a press conference in Samar.
Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos, spokesman of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said the unidentified gunmen shot the couple shortly after they disembarked from a RORO (Roll On-Roll Off) ship at the Caticlan seaport at around 1:30 a.m. yesterday.
“They were walking along a walkway towards the port office when they were shot. They were taken to the nearby hospital but were pronounced dead on arrival,” said Carlos.
But the couple’s lawyer raised questions about the killing of his clients.
Lawyer Gualberto Cataluña, who was at the Caticlan port waiting for the Odicta couple, claimed that Odicta was still alive and was limping while asking for help before he was taken to the hospital by police officers. He said Odicta’s wife, Meriam, died on the spot.
Cataluña said Odicta was handcuffed and dragged to a police patrol car after which he was taken to the hospital.
But Cataluña said he was shocked to find out that Odicta was already dead and had other gunshot wounds.
In a press conference in Malay, Chief Inspector Mark Evan Salvo, Malay police chief, said the officers arrived in Caticlan after the shooting and assisted a man who had been wounded.
Salvo added that Odicta was shot several times while still at the Caticlan port, denying insinuations his men were behind the killing.
The death of the Odicta couple came barely four days after they met with Interior Secretary Mike Sueno at Camp Crame in Quezon City to clear their names on their alleged involvement in illegal drugs transactions in the Western Visayas.
Sueno said Melvin Odicta was being tagged as the same alias Dragon who is the main supplier of illegal drugs in Iloilo and nearby areas.
The official said the couple earlier met with the regional director of the Western Visayas Regional Police who advised them to go to Camp Crame and surrender to PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa.
“But they chose to meet with me instead because I am a fellow Ilonggo,” said Sueno.
During the meeting, Sueno disclosed that the couple denied any involvement in illegal drugs trade and insisted that they are businessmen in transportation and restaurant business in Iloilo City.
Odicta gained national notoriety last November when he tried to attack Aksyon Radyo Iloilo, a news radio station highly critical of the illegal drug trade and who dubbed him as “Dragon.”
Right after the attack, then Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA-6) regional director Paul Ledesma publicly confirmed that Odicta is “Dragon,” the leader of one of the top two drug syndicates in Iloilo and the region.
Odicta and his wife vehemently denied allegations and claimed they run legitimate businesses.
The Odicta couple operated a restaurant, a taxi fleet, a van services that shuttle passengers to and from the Iloilo Airport, and a pawnshop.
Odicta was supposed to serve life imprisonment for a 1989 drug possession case. However in 1995, he was released from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa.
‘I’ll finish drug problem’ President Duterte has already pledged to “finish” the drug problem within his term, admitting it has become a threat to national security. He bewailed that the “drug crisis” has infected “every nook and corner of this country involving generals, mayors, governors, barangay captains and so many ninjas” or policemen “who are into it.”
“I will fight criminality and drugs, most of the criminal acts are really on the account of the drug menace, so I will not relent. The campaign will be continuous and I will, as I have said in the campaign rallies all over the country, I will be harsh as I can ever be,” he said.
“I will finish this problem of corruption, drugs, and crime and I hope at the end of my term,” he added.
The President also declared he would take full legal responsibility for his intensified campaign against drugs as he directed both the police and military “to destroy the drug apparatus” in the country.
Unfazed by criticisms of alleged human rights violations, Duterte also said he was ready to die or even go to jail for policemen and soldiers fulfilling their mandate to promote peace and order in the country.
“Prison? No problem. I will go to prison. I will not even ask for a special room, just give me a bed with a foam, give me something to read. There are so many books that are piling up and I never really had a chance to read them all,” he said.
The President brushed aside accusations that he may face war crimes including genocide for his bloody campaign against drugs, calling his critics “crazy.” “Do not scare me about human rights. Genocide? Bakit sino ba pinatay ko? Wala naman akong pinatay na bata,” he asked.
All he wants, Duterte emphasized, is the safety and protection of law-abiding and God-fearing Filipinos. He said he wants to ensure that people could go freely around the country without being molested, held up or attacked by criminals.
“We will reach that point. You have to remove me as President or pray that I will die in the meantime with no resurrection,” he said.
The President assured anew the police and military of his steadfast support in the fight against criminals, saying they should not worry about criminal liability.
But the President warned law enforcers to do their jobs “according to the books” and “not join the other side because you will be first on the list.”
He reiterated that he would not tolerate corrupt government officials, including policemen, saying there will be a day of reckoning. He said he would not allow these wayward public servants to be buried at the heroes’ cemetery. “I’ll burn you at the cremation,” he added.
In the same speech, the President recalled that it was former President Gloria Arroyo who elevated the drug problem as a national security threat. By issuing such directive, the Armed Forces has been mobilized to join the fight against illegal drugs.
“If the military does not do its part and leave it to the police alone, we cannot ever ever suppress drug problem,” Duterte said.
Duterte cautioned anew that the country might end up like other South American nations and their fractured governments if the drug problem is not resolved soon. He noted that the country has turned into a transshipment of illegal drugs by “so many countries.”
Prior to his remarks, the President led the flag-raising and wreathlaying ceremony at the heroes’ cemetery. The event was attended by Vice President Leni Robredo, several cabinet members, diplomats and other government officials.
After the Taguig ceremony, the President was scheduled to travel to Samar to visit the wake of a policeman killed in a drug operation in the province. He was slated to meet the wounded soldiers and policemen in a hospital in Tacloban City.
Afterwards, the President was expected to host a dinner for other injured government troops in Malacañang.