ROTTEN EGGS IN THE PNP BASKET

THAT there is always a rotten egg in every basket is not always true. It
admits exceptions. Surely, there are still baskets that contain no rotten eggs.

Sadly, however, that saying, we dare say, seems to be always true of the
basket of the primary peace and order keeping force of the country, the
Philippine National Police.

Over the weekend, Narcotics agents here arrested three men in a buy-bust
operation. Posthaste came up a member of the Western Police District in
Metro Manila, with nine others, and offered a big sum to the local narc in
exchange for the release of the arrested drug pushers.

To the credit of the local narcs, they refused the bribe and instead opted
to file charges against the erring policeman, who now finds himself in hot
water.

The local narcs could have asked him to up the ante so that there will be
more to go around. Given the mega-bucks of drug pushing, the policeman
would have acceded and would have asked his cohorts to cough up more for
the release of the arrested pushers.

But the local narcs did not do that. For that, we commend them to high
heavens. We wish there were more like them. We pray that their ilk increase
in the ranks of the Philippine National Police.

For the erring cop, we wish that DILG Secretary Jose Lina would act
expeditiously and have him sacked immediately. We further wish that more of
the scalawags in the police force will be exposed for their rot and
immediately weeded out from the force so that finally, the PNP basket will
no longer contain rotten eggs and the nation may then sleep more soundly at
night.