\u201cThey will pay for that.\u201d
That was the stern warning of Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo to the suspects in the killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo.
\u201cRegarding the murdered Korean businessman, the President will not tolerate any police abuse. All these police scalawags will be dealt with and prosecuted to the fullest under the law,\u201d he told reporters in an ambush interview\u00a0on Friday.
Despite the absence of the Korean\u2019s body after it was cremated at a funeral home in Caloocan City, Panelo said the case would still prosper.
\u201cThere is one policeman who executed an affidavit detailing what happened. That\u2019s enough to prove the case against the suspects,\u201d he said.
\u201cIf the testimony says that the body was burned, cremated, e di meron ka nang testimonya na walang body\u2026that will substitute for the production of the corpus delicti,\u201d he added.
Asked about his reaction to the information that the crime happened only a few steps away from the office of Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald \u201cBato\u201d dela Rosa and his official residence, Panelo said the \u201ccommission of a crime does not choose a place.\u201d
\u201cCriminals will commit crimes even in their own homes,\u201d he said.
He added that only a \u201cvery limited number of policemen\u201d were using President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s war on drugs as a cover-up for their illegal activities.
\u201cThat\u2019s still in relation to percentage that, that\u2019s very small,\u201d he said.
\u201cThere will be of course people using the drug operation for their own advantage but they will eventually pay,\u201d he added.
But how does the government avoid these cases?
\u201cYou enforce the law strictly so that those who will try to circumvent it will be warned that if they do, they will go to jail,\u201d Panelo said.
The President, he said, was \u201cvery serious on the operation (against erring government officials) and will not tolerate abuse.\u201d
Asked about the observation of Human Rights Watch that there is a breakdown of law and order in the country, Panelo said:\u00a0\u201cIn a hundred percent scenario, there\u2019s only less than 1 percent. How can there be a breakdown?\u201d he said.
\u201cDefinitely. It\u2019s an isolated case,\u201d he added.
He said such a case would not affect the government\u2019s war on drugs and criminality.
\u201cIt has been successful so far. So any impairment by reason of this incident will not affect the success of the project,\u201d he said. RAM\/rga<\/p>\n