By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
This year’s Rule of Law Index by the World Justice Project (WJP) has ranked the Philippines 97th out of 140 countries. That’s five notches up from last year’s ranking at 102nd, but clearly not enough improvement for government to celebrate.
Presidential Peace Adviser Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., though, believes the improvement can be attributed to the strengthened and sustained implementation of the comprehensive Philippine peace process under the Marcos administration.
For the WJP, whose survey and analysis are done by expert lawyers, judges, and leaders in multiple disciplines and partner organizations, a country’s peace agenda is only one aspect of the assessment.
So, while the Philippines went against the tide – as 61 percent of the world or 85 out of 140 nations in the WJP report saw a decline in the observance of the rule of law – the truth is our nation continues to tread in a sense of insecurity, disorder, lawlessness, and injustice.
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Take, for example, the multiple cases of abductions of cockfighting aficionados. At least 30 sabungeros have disappeared without a trace since 2021 – reason enough for Rodrigo Duterte to shut down the multi-billion e-sabong industry back in May as one of his last acts as president.
The fact that several police officers have been indicted for a number of these kidnappings and suspected murders speaks volumes that law and order have been in a downward spiral in this country. Last week, six more suspects were charged with kidnapping over the mysterious disappearances.
Congress had called e-sabong kingpin Atong Ang to explain the outright threats he’d made in a YouTube video before the abductions. However, to this day, his name has never appeared in these indictments, as probers have not tied him to any of these gruesome criminal acts.
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Yes, e-sabong is no more. But gambling and its evils still prevail in many communities of the country where the Philippine National Police (PNP) remains complacent.
Last week, mothers appealed to the PNP leadership to stop the illegal gambling activities happening in amusement parks and fairs or “peryahan” in the province of Bulacan. They say their husbands and children could be spared from the addiction if only local cops from the Bulacan Police Provincial Office did their jobs.
Kids quickly get hooked on these color games, drop balls, and other forms of illegal gambling at the “peryahan” in Barangay Santa Clara, Sta. Maria, and in the town of Pandi. It’s a sight beat policemen cannot miss unless they intentionally turn a blind eye.
Protection money goes around, so my spies say, and that’s good for these operations to last until January 2023. Sadly, not just cops but certain corrupt local journalists are also on the weekly take. That explains why the Bulacan PPO has records of operating against “cara y cruz,” “tong-its,” “pusoy” and the like, but not of the “perya” — at least, not the ones in Sta. Maria and Pandi.
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