MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said he would have to call the police back to his war on drugs, nearly a month after suspending the force from all operations in the bloody campaign.

Duterte said the recall would not mean all police would return, but some. He did not elaborate.

Duterte's police chief, Ronald dela Rosa, said on Monday drugs had returned to the streets in the past few weeks and police were ready to rejoin the campaign because "the sooner we return, the better".

Duterte suspended the Philippine National Police (PNP) from his anti-drugs operations after it was discovered that rogue drug-squad officers kidnapped and killed a South Korean businessman at the PNP headquarters.

More than 7,700 people have died since the campaign started eight months ago, some 2,500 in police operations. </s> Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the country's police to dissolve its anti-drug units following the killing of a South Korean businessman by rogue officers.

Duterte said Sunday that he was "embarrassed" that anti-drug officers abused their powers, and will change the way the police operates. "Cleanse your ranks. Review their cases. Give me a list of who the scalawags are" he said, in remarks reported by CNN . Duterte has, however, vowed to go ahead with his anti-drug campaign until the last day of six-year term.

Government prosecutors say officers abducted Jee Ick-joo on Oct. 18, strangled him to death at Manila's Philippine National Police headquarters, and asked for a ransom from the slain businessman's wife, Choi Kyung-jin. Duterte has since apologized to South Korea and promised swift retribution.

The killing has added to criticism of Duterte's anti-drug campaign, which unleashed a bloody crackdown that saw about 2,000 killed by the police and another 5,000 killed by suspected vigilantes. </s> Choi Kyung-jin (left), widow of Jee Ick-joo, the South Korean businessman kidnapped and killed by rogue Filipino policemen, at the start of a Senate probe into the killing on Thursday.

MANILA: Three Philippine police charged with robbery and extortion have been transferred instead of suspended or sacked, authorities said Thursday, fuelling concerns about immunity for rogue officers prosecuting President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly drug war.

The announcement of the punishments for the trio came as a Senate inquiry began into the murder of a South Korean businessman allegedly by anti-drug police officers who extorted money from his wife.

Critics of Duterte’s drug war, which has claimed more than 6,000 lives, say he has emboldened corrupt officers with his repeated pledges that he will shield police if they are charged for killing drug suspects.

Duterte personally ordered the three officers, accused of extorting a mother and son of 120,000 pesos (Dh8,815; $2,400) last week in Manila, to the violence-plagued south of the country, a police statement said on Thursday.

“This is part of the continuous internal cleansing of (the city police),” Guillermo Eleazar, their police chief in Quezon City, a district of the capital, said in the statement.

“(It) should serve as a lesson for those involved in illegal activities and also a stern warning for others not to do the same.”

Duterte had previously vowed to transfer corrupt policemen to an autonomous region in the strife-torn southern Philippines, where security forces are battling several militant groups, leading to protests from the local authorities.

“We need the best of our country’s police on our side — not the worst,” Mujiv Hataman, the regional governor, said this month.

“Erring law enforcers must be held accountable. Sending them to the (region) is not a disciplinary action, rather it is a move that portrays our region as undeserving of dignified and dedicated public service.”

Duterte, 71, has said he must take extraordinary measures to prevent the Philippines from becoming a narco-state and Filipinos from becoming slaves to drugs.

But critics fear the police force, regarded as one of the most corrupt institutions in the country, is spearheading a campaign of extrajudicial killings while corrupt officers are using the campaign as cover for their own rackets.

Duterte said this week he would tolerate them earning “sideline” money, a euphemism for various corrupt activities, as long as that did not involve drugs.

National police chief Ronald Dela Rosa told the Senate inquiry on Thursday that the anti-drugs officer accused of murdering the Korean businessman had been suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of a woman in 2007.

“How can a police officer with allegations of that sort be assigned to speciality units like the Anti-Illegal Drugs Group,” said Senator Vicente Sotto. </s> The Philippine police yesterday suspended President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody war on drugs, as it refocuses its efforts on purging its ranks of rogue officers.

The move comes as the 160,000-strong Philippine National Police (PNP) is shaken by a scandal over the kidnapping and slaying last year of a South Korean man, allegedly by anti-narcotics officers.

"There is no war on drugs for the meantime. We're shifting to a war on scalawags. We will clean our own ranks first. Then after that, maybe, we can resume the war on drugs," director-general Ronald de la Rosa, the PNP chief, told reporters.

Hours earlier, at a late evening news conference on Sunday, Mr Duterte ordered the PNP to disband its anti-illegal drugs group, and all precinct-level anti-narcotics units.

"Something has to be corrected severely… Let me reorganise the system," he said, describing the police force as "the most corrupt".
• President Rodrigo Duterte takes office and immediately sets in motion a crackdown on crime. During his campaign, he promised to end the drug menace in three to six months.
• At his State of the Nation Address, Mr Duterte says there are nearly four million drug addicts in the Philippines. Official figures, though, place it closer to 1.8 million.
• Mr Duterte hits out at then US President Barack Obama for criticising his anti-crime drive. By then, more than 2,400 have been killed by either police or vigilantes.
• Mr Duterte asks for a six-month extension of his self-imposed deadline.
• Mr Duterte marks his first 100 days in office. The death toll has risen to 3,500. The number would later be revised down to 2,300. Police explain that a number of deaths are not drug-related.
• Anti-narcotics officers seize South Korean Jee Ick Joo, under the pretence of a drug raid.
• The number of drug suspects killed breaches 6,000. Of the total, 2,102 are killed in police operations and the rest by unknown suspects.
• The Philippine Daily Inquirer publishes a report on Mr Jee's kidnapping and possible murder.
• South Korea's foreign ministry confirms receiving a report that Mr Jee has been killed, purportedly by rogue cops. Six suspects are named.
• Police Director-General Ronald de la Rosa confirms that Mr Jee was killed inside the headquarters of the police's top brass.
• Police suspend the anti-crime drive to focus on "cleansing" their ranks.

"You are corrupt to the core. It's in your system," the President said, suggesting that two in five policemen are probably tainted.

Mr de la Rosa had offered to resign, but Mr Duterte said: "What good will come of it? You can't be blamed for this." Mr de la Rosa was police chief when Mr Duterte was mayor of the southern city of Davao.

The "internal cleansing" of the police force arose from a discovery that errant cops were behind the abduction and murder of Mr Jee Ick Joo, a South Korean businessman.

Mr Jee was seized in October by an anti-narcotics team, under the pretence of a drug raid. He was taken to a compound inside the camp housing the headquarters of the PNP's top brass in Manila. While there, and just steps away from Mr de la Rosa's office, police officer Ricky Santa Isabel strangled Mr Jee.

Santa Isabel then demanded a ransom of five million pesos (S$143,300) from Mr Jee's wife. Not knowing Mr Jee was already dead, she paid on Oct 31. But Santa Isabel then asked for another four million pesos.

During a Senate hearing last week, Santa Isabel tagged his supervisor Rafael Dumlao as the "brains" behind the kidnapping and slaying.

On Sunday, Mr Duterte offered a five million peso reward for Dumlao's arrest, "dead or alive".

"You deliver him to me dead, I'm okay with that… (Dumlao) put the reputation of the police in shambles," he said.

Mr de la Rosa afterwards informed Mr Duterte that Dumlao was already in police custody, and that Dumlao had confessed to the crime.

Mr de la Rosa said he does not know how long the police purge will last. He said he will form a "counter-intelligence task force" to go after errant cops, and a new "narcotics command" may be set up later.

Mr Duterte, meanwhile, said his crackdown on illegal drugs will continue until the end of his term in 2022.

"I will extend it to the last day of my term. March no longer applies," he said.

He had promised during his campaign to rid the Philippines of the "drug menace" in six months. He later asked for three more months, saying he was unaware, until he assumed office, how widespread the problem had become.

Critics questioned the sincerity of the police "cleansing".

Mr Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said "it is nothing less than an empty public relations gesture".

Mr Renato Reyes, secretary-general of Bayan (Nation), a coalition of leftist activist groups, said: "How can a corrupt and fascist police force, where impunity is the norm, successfully stamp out criminal activities such as the illegal drug trade? The body count will continue to rise and more criminals in uniform will wreak havoc on the people."

SEE WORLD: Duterte accuses US of building arms depots </s> 'Because of the gravity of the charges... if I were Dumlao I'd stay inside [Camp Crame],' says the President, ordering the cop to stay under PNP custody and face the charges against him

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte named Superintendent Rafael Dumlao the mastermind in the abduction and murder of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo.

"If you do not come out, I will offer P5 million [for you], dead or alive," said the President in a press conference at around 11:30 pm. "You put the reputation of the police in shambles."

As the press conference was ongoing, however, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald dela Rosa told Duterte that Dumlao was already back in PNP custody.

Dumlao had been under restrictive custody at Camp Crame, the PNP headquarters, but slipped out on Saturday, January 28, supposedly after police failed to serve an arrest warrant against him. But Dela Rosa said Dumlao was back in Camp Crame on Sunday, and had supposedly promised to "tell all."

"He has to be investigated," Duterte later said during the press conference. "Because of the gravity of the charges... if I were Dumlao I'd stay inside [Camp Crame]... Galit ako, kasi pati ako napahiya (I'm angry, because I was also humiliated)."

Jee was killed right inside Camp Crame in October 2016. He was abducted from his home in Angeles City, Pampanga.

Senior Police Officer 3 Ricky Sta Isabel, considered a principal suspect in the case, claimed he is a mere fall guy and that he got orders from Dumlao, his former chief in the PNP's Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG). (READ: Jee Ick Joo case: Tangled webs, inconsistent stories)

Last Thursday, January 26, Duterte had vowed that Jee's killers would go to prison.

"Tang ina kayong pulis, bantay kayo, hindi ko kayo papalusutin (Police, you sons of bitches, I won't let you get away with it). You will suffer. Maybe I can send your heads to South Korea," said the President.

He also apologized to South Koreans on behalf of the Philippine government. "I apologize for the death of your compatriot. We are very sorry that it had to happen." – Rappler </s> MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday he would recall some police to fight his controversial war on drugs, nearly a month after suspending the entire force from all operations in the bloody campaign.

In an about-face on his decision to remove the 160,000-member Philippine National Police (PNP) from his signature campaign, Duterte said the country was beset by security and law enforcement challenges and he needed more manpower to sustain the crackdown on drugs.

Duterte has been scathing in his criticism of police corruption after it was discovered that rogue drugs squad officers had kidnapped and killed a South Korean businessman at PNP headquarters.

After banishing police from the anti-drug campaign, Duterte handed the lead role to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and has called for the military to provide firepower for its operations.

On Tuesday, he said those police recalled to operations would have to be supervised by PDEA agents.

"So, I need more men. I have to call back the police again to do the job most of the time on drugs, not everyone," he told reporters.

"And it's meant to be PDEA-supervised, whether done by the military or the police. There should always be a PDEA ... who will be supervising everything."

Since the Jan. 30 police suspension, the drug trade has come back out of the shadows, more than half a dozen drug users and dealers in some of Manila's toughest areas told Reuters.

PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa said on Monday drugs had returned to the streets in the past few weeks and police were ready to rejoin the campaign because "the sooner we return, the better".

The war on drugs has caused international alarm, with 7,700 people killed since it was launched eight months ago, some 2,555 in operations in which police said suspects resisted arrest.

Authorities strongly reject allegations by human rights groups that many of the other deaths were extrajudicial killings carried out by police, or hit men working for them.

Duterte has resolutely defended the campaign and lambasted anyone who raises concern about it, including world leaders like then U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and former U.S. President Barack Obama.

He has promised to humiliate anyone who is willing to debate him on the issue.

He said the decision to recall police was made after consultations with dela Rosa, during which he ordered him to recruit young men for task forces who were "imbued with the fervor of patriotism" and not tainted by corruption.

He did not specify what task forces.

"I have to do it because I don't have enough men," Duterte added.

PNP spokesman Dionardo Carlos said he was not aware of any recall of the police.

"We have to await proper instructions and guidelines," he said. "The whole situation will be studied because we need to know where are we on the drug situation and where we left off." </s> Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday ordered the country’s police to disband their anti-drug units after rogue officers killed a South Korean businessman, The Guardian reported. The move has effectively put the country’s war against drugs on hold, with Duterte promising to change the way police forces operate.

Duterte, who apologised to the South Korean Ambassador to the Philippines for Jee Ick-joo’s murder, said he was “embarrassed” by anti-drug officers abusing their powers. “Cleanse your ranks...give me a list of who the scalawags are,” he said at a press conference, according to CNN. He also gave the suspects in the murder 48 hours to surrender and threatened to put a 5-million peso (approximately Rs 68.23 lakh) bounty on them if they hand themselves over to officials.

Meanwhile, national police chief Ronald dela Rosa said it was necessary to disband the anti-drug units to rebuild them. “I will do my job to the best of my ability,” he said. “I hope I will not fail the president and the Filipino people.” However, he added that the disbanding could affect the anti-narcotics campaign in the country.

More than 7,000 people have been killed since the national campaign began after Duterte took office on June 30, 2016. On December 12, the president reportedly told businessmen that he murdered suspects to “show the guys [the police] that if I can do it, why can’t you?”. “I was really looking for a confrontation so I could kill,” he said. Earlier in 2015, he had said that he had killed at least three men suspected of kidnapping and rape in Davao.

On December 23, it was reported that the Philippines Commission on Human Rights would investigate claims that the president killed criminals while serving as mayor of the city of Davao. The Commission said it would also probe reports claiming that “death squads” killed several hundred people in the city. </s> The Philippine police yesterday suspended a controversial war on drugs, as they move to try and purge their ranks of rogue officers.

The 160,000-strong Philippine National Police has been shaken by a scandal over the kidnapping and slaying last year of a South Korean man, allegedly by anti-narcotics officers.

President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday acknowledged widespread corruption in the police force and vowed to "cleanse" it.

The President, however, said his crackdown on illegal drugs would continue until the end of his term in 2022.

SEE TOP OF THE NEWS: Manila suspends war on drugs to purge rogue cops </s> Police Superintendent Raphael Dumlao III during the Senate Hearing on the murder of Korean National Jee Ick Jo

Police Superintendent Raphael Dumlao III during the Senate Hearing on the murder of Korean National Jee Ick Jo Image Credit: Agency

Manila: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to kill policemen who return to the illegal drug trade after facing disciplinary action.

The threat came as it emerged hundreds of allegedly rogue police officers had defied their re-deployment to the restive southern Philippines.

Last week, only 53 out of 310 policemen — 17 per cent — had showed up at Pasay City’s Villamor Airbase for their flight to Basilan, southern Philippines.

“They should be subjected to summary dismissal. I have requested the police to form particularly a squad that will watch over the dismissed policemen,” Duterte said.

“Most of them — the ninja-criminal policemen — are high on the [target] list,” he added.

He warned that he would not spare any renegade officer.

“You will be killed, if you make a mistake, you will be killed. That’s for sure,” Duterte said. “Your wives will be widowed. Don’t fool the government. Do not even try. Do not even think about it.”

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald Dela Rosa said he had signed the dismissal order for hundreds of policemen.

“They were given 15 days to explain at the PNP in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM),” Dela Rosa said, adding that they will be finally dismissed if they fail to give reasonable explanation.

There were no cases filed against them, but their participation in many illegal activities are fully documented, Dela Rosa explained.

The president has been dubbed a strongman in his relentless campaign against illegal drug trade, especially those involving law-enforcement agents, that has killed 7,700 since July.

“Just because you are no longer working in government, you think you will have more freedom to engage in illegal drug trade. That will make you special target,” Duterte ranted in addressing the erring policemen.

'They will be killed, one by one'

“Do not be surprised if they are killed because they are wanted and so are the police(men) who are dismissed for committing crimes. I’m warning the public especially the media right now, do not be surprised if they are killed one of these days — one by one,” said Duterte, known for not holding back in moments of anger.

Duterte temporarily ordered the scrapping of the PNP’s anti-drug operation after policemen assigned to fight the illegal drug trade were found behind the kidnap-for-ransom of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo from his home in Pampanga, central Luzon last year.

Jee was killed inside the PNP headquarters Camp Crame in suburban Quezon City and was cremated the next day under suspicious circumstances.

Details of the cops-turned-criminals saga were revealed by low-ranking police officers-turned-witnesses implicating high-ranking police generals in the Jee kidnapping.

Jee's wife, South Korean Choi Kyung-jin, was asked to pay ransom — revealed through ATM transactions and CCTV footage — believing her husband was still alive.

October 18, 2016: South Korean businessman Jee Ick-Joo, along with his house helper, was kidnapped by two unidentified men from Jee's residence in Friendship Plaza Subdivision, Angeles, Pampanga, an hour north of Manila.

After their arrest, the kidnappers — who turned out to be members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) — accused Jee of being involved in the illegal drug trade.

October 18, 2016: Jee was killed inside Camp Crame, the headquarters of the Philippine National Police, by his abductors.

October 30, 2016: Kidnappers ask for ransom from Jee's wife, Choi Kyung Jin. She reportedly paid Php5 million (Dh364,772 or about $100,000) on October 30, 2016 out of the Php8 million demanded by the kidnappers. She said she did not give the kidnappers the remaining Php3 million when they failed to present proof that Jee was still alive.

February 3, 2017: PNP Chief Ronald Dela Rosa said unscrupulous members of the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) could be behind the Jee's killing Dela Rosa told the reporters at Camp Crame that "the picture is getting clearer and hopefully, the truth will soon come out".

February 3: President Duterte, citing investigation reports, tagged a police general, Rafael Dumlao III, the immediate superior of prime suspect Senior Police Officer 3 Ricky Sta. Isabel, as the mastermind behind the kidnapping and murder of Jee.

Duterte gave Dumlao 24 hours to surrender or a P5-million reward would be offered for his capture, dead or alive.

Duterte publicly cursed Dumlao who snubbed the first day of the investigation by the Department of Justice on the kidnap-slay case.

February 22: The Police Anti-Kidnapping Group (PNP-AKG) adds 4 criminal charges (carnapping, robbery, falsification of public document, obstruction of justic) on 8 respondents in Jee kidnap-slay case.

Case respondents (accused): 

(1) Senior Police Officer 3 (SPO3) Ricky Sta. Isabel, tagged as the prime suspect;

(2) former PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Group-Pampanga (AIDG) head Superintendent Rafael Dumlao III;

(3) SPO4 Roy Villegas;

(4) Gerardo Santiago, owner of the Gream funeral parlor;

(5) Jerry Omlang;

(6) Ramon Yalung;

(7) Ricardo Diaz, former Director of NBI-National Capital Region 3;

(8) Jose Yap, former NBI deputy director for investigation services

(9) Roel Bolivar, former NBI Task Force against Illegal Drugs head

(10-14) Five employees of Gream Funeral Services: Epephany Gotera; Teodolito Macato Tarepe; Kevin Enriquez; Robert John Tobias and Bernardo Maraya

(15+) There were other suspects tagged in the case, identified only through aliases “Pulis,” and several "John Does".
After a temporary suspension due to the kidnapping and killing of a South Korean national, Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte orders the Philippine National Police to resume his controversial campaign.