By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
Not even a week after hurling a challenge to the new leadership of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to pull off a cleansing of its ranks in a manner never done before, the test of integrity for Brigadier General Nicolas Torre seems to have arrived.
Torre’s appointment to the CIDG is no joke. It came with the highest expectations verbalized by the Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief, Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil. His orders were for Torre to completely clean up the unit of dirt that had stained the police uniform.
For all the talented and noble men and women whose crime-fighting skills have made the CIDG a special force to reckon with, the unit has sadly plunged itself into muddy dealings.
The list of deplorable incidents attached to it is shocking, so no one can really blame us in the media for calling them out occasionally. In this light, Firing Line challenged Torre to be what Marbil expects him to be in the CIDG.
But days after his mission to cleanse the CIDG’s ranks was publicized, whispers of corruption quickly resurfaced. I’ve been tipped off by my “spies” that a certain “Michael C.” is the new kingpin around gambling dens, girlie bars, and strip joints in Metro Manila.
Who is this Michael C., Gen. Torre?
Club managers’ tongues are tied but by by all indications, this new kingpin oversees the sleazy underground operations for the PNP with the help of his lieutenants: “Jepoy M.” for areas under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Police District; “Cesar Pilosopo” for Quezon City; and an alias “Paul” in both the Manila and Southern Police Districts.
Right now, I can’t make a clear connection with these guys and the PNP, only that their names come with thunder and lightning just as Gen. Torre takes over the CIDG like a storm.
If you are truly detached from this cesspool of corruption, Gen. Torre, I suggest you unmask these characters. The public does not need more rhetoric or sweeping reforms on paper.
The public needs accountability, starting with these so-called bagmen who collect “tong” from nightspots and illegal gambling joints under the protective shadow of local police districts. If you don’t know them, now’s the time to find out. And if you already do, now’s the time to act.
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