EDITORIAL: DEALING WITH LOW-LIVES

ONE thought that with all the attention in the war against drugs,
small town lottery and other political issues that a simple case of an
alleged beating done by two agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement
Agency (PDEA) in Northern Mindanao would remain under the radar for
long.

But it surfaced thanks to media vigilance and now P02 Iraz Zari and
P03 Perfecto Vargas Jr. are facing the prospect of a court trial if
the complainant does decide to pursue his case.

The charges stemmed from the allegations made by drug suspect Jingle
Mahilum that he got beaten up, loaded up into a vehicle and threatened
with summary execution by the two agents, which compelled him to make
his escape.

In response Orbe replied that there is no evidence to substantiate the
claim but hastened to add that he wasn't defending his people from the
allegations.

The PDEA regional director said he was merely trying to let the courts
rule on the case and if found guilty, he won't interfere and even
impose disciplinary action on them.

While that is an assurance the public need reminding that this didn't
mark the first time that PDEA under Orbe's leadership were accused of
irregularities.

Remarkably it was last year when, a few weeks off their impressive
raid of a shabu storehouse in Cagayan de Oro that two of Orbe's men
got entangled in an alleged bribery attempt with a suspected drug pusher.

The entrapment operation conducted by the regional office of the
National Bureau of Investigation in Northern Mindanao yielded some
evidence of irregularity but as to be expected, Orbe somehow denied
that his people were involved in anything anomaluous.

Barely a year later and now, this report of two PDEA agents tied to an
alleged beating and attempted murder of a drug suspect.

The agency perhaps has the advantage of having to deal with people
whose credibility are shot because they are drug suspects and the
public doesn't take kindly to these low-lives.

But with these reports one cannot help but question the agency's
methods in dealing with drug suspects. Dealing violence on criminals
or the so-called "eye for an eye" approach may look good in the movies
but not so in real life.

There is such a thing as human rights and while victims and the public
may rise a howl over it that's the way the justice system is supposed
to work on all sides.

While one has to give the agency the benefit of the doubt one also has
to ask; is the PDEA becoming just as crooked and ruthless as the
people that they're supposed to be prosecuting?

That's why they are in law enforcement in the first place. They're
supposed to draw the line between law and justice on one hand and
vigilantism and extreme prejudice on the other.

We certainly hope Director Orbe lives up to his promise or assurance.
In this case one needs to distinguish between the scum of society and
the good guys; if PDEA and the rest of our protectors started taking
matters into their own hands they're not acting like the good guys
anymore.