IMPUNITY

When anti-narcotics agents dismantled a drug "tiangge" or virtual
flea market within spitting distance of the Pasig City Hall in
February 2006, several police and barangay officials were linked to
the illegal activities of the suspected drug den operator, Amin Imam
Boratong.

Cops and barangay officials are not the only public servants
protecting drug dealers. The illegal drug trade is big business; drug
money can buy prosecutors, judges, politicians and narcotics agents.
Notorious drug dealers have been acquitted on purported
technicalities by corrupt judges. Drug suspects have walked out of
supposedly secure detention centers right at the headquarters of the
Philippine National Police at Camp Crame. Foreign suspects facing
drug charges have been allowed to leave the country by corrupt
immigration agents. Almost all raids on shabu laboratories nationwide
have failed to result in the arrest of the drug dealers themselves.

It's not surprising that Boratong is believed to be responsible for
the continued illegal drug trade in Pasig, with the base of
operations just behind city hall. Boratong is believed to own the
so-called Malacanang House in Barangay Sto. Tomas, which was raided
last Friday by anti-narcotics agents. The raiders reported
confiscating 200 grams of shabu. Not a substantial haul, but the fact
that illegal drug activities continue to flourish, and so close to
the seat of government in Pasig City, is a cause for concern.
Especially since Boratong and his second wife, Sheryl Molera, have
been detained since November 2006 at the National Bureau of
Investigation in connection with the raid on the shabu tiangge.

The man who reportedly sneaked a camera into the tiangge before the
2006 raid and gave the footage to GMA-7, German Colisao, was found
dead with three gunshot wounds in Pasig City. Boratong was indicted
for the murder but later cleared by then justice secretary Raul
Gonzalez, who cited insufficiency of evidence.

What will it take, and how much time is needed to convict a man
accused of drug trafficking? The case against Boratong has dragged on
for three years. What will it take to stop the drug trade in Pasig?
Anti-narcotics agents point to public fear and apathy for the
continued drug trade in the city. The fear is understandable,
considering the fate of Colisao and the impunity of the city's drug
traffickers. But that fear can be overcome if his murderers are
caught and made to pay for his death. If citizens are scared, it is
the duty of the government to erase that fear. It is not enough to
arrest criminals. They must also be punished for their crimes, and
stopped from continuing their criminal activities.