IN MALAYSIA, NAJIB GOES AFTER WHISTLEBLOWERS: IN PHILIPPINES, 'BADASS' DUTERTE NAMES & SHAMES 5 CORRUPT POLICE GENERALS, 3 TOP DRUG LORDS

President Rodrigo Duterte is no ordinary president that Filipinos had seen before. While everybody knows he’s a badass who will not think twice about killing drug addicts and pushers on the spot, many are surprised that he continues wearing what he wants, not required, to official events.

When he chose to wear a “barong” and denim pants, instead of a suit, for the Philippines Air Force anniversary, Filipinos knew their leader’s badass trademark is here to stay. On the day he took his oath, Duterte signed his first Executive Order – empowering two of his most trusted men Leoncio “Jun” Evasco Jr and Christopher “Bong” Go – with special powers and tasks.

Mr. Evasco was made Cabinet Secretary, in charge of a staggering 12 agencies in optimizing anti-poverty programs. Mr. Go was given control over the Presidential Management Staff, security, and media as the “Special Assistant to the President” holding the rank of a Secretary. Known as the “gateway”, Go is the ultimate access to the president.

Also called “The Punisher”, Mr Duterte won the May 9 election by a landslide largely on a pledge to kill tens of thousands of drug dealers and other criminals. The Manila newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer’s “kill list” of suspected criminals showed 119 victims of suspected summary killings up until July 7, including 13 unidentified ones, since the elections.

“Do your duty, and in the process, you kill 1,000 persons, I will protect you,” President Rodrigo Duterte told police on July 1, the day after he was sworn in. But he’s also made it clear he will only protect cops who are clean. And days later on July 5, he named and shamed 5 police generals allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade, shocking the nation.

1. Retired Deputy Director General Marcelo Garbo Jr,
2. Former National Capital Region Police Office director Chief Superintendent Joel Pagdilao,
3. Former Quezon City Police District Office director Chief SuperintendentEdgardo Tinio,
4. Former Western Visayas police chief Chief Superintendent Bernardo Diaz, and
5. Vicente Loot, who is now mayor of Daanbantayan, Cebu.

“I am compelled by my sense of duty to tell you the police who contributed to deterioration of law and order in this country,” he said at the 69th anniversary of the Philippine Air Force in Clark Freeport. Duterte “Dirty Harry” claims he had been hearing the names of police generals allegedly involved in the drug trade, even when he was still Davao City Mayor.

The generals denied the President’s allegations, of course. But such denials won’t make any difference to a former Mayor of Davao City who didn’t care to run away from allegations that he had killed hundreds of suspected drug dealers. In one television interview, he proudly said the number killed wasn’t in the hundreds – but more than 1,700.

“Every single death that’s been reported they argue or claim is in self-defense, or that the persons who were killed fired first. We need to get to know what the facts are,” said Chito Gascon, the head of the Philippines Human Rights Commission. But in a country which is crumbling with drug-related problems, there’s only way to deal with it.

And the “Dirty Harry” or “Wild Wild West” method is working, with things in some neighbourhood have gotten better. Some dealers have already given themselves up, simply because they fear they will be killed. With the exception of human rights activists, ordinary people aren’t complaining about mistaken killing the innocent because everyone knows who the drug dealers are.

On July 7, just 2 days after he disclosed the names of 5 police generals who protected the drug lords, badass Duterte continued his shame campaign against people with alleged links to the narcotics trade with the revelation of 3 drug lords operating in the Philippines. He identified them as:

1. Wu Tuan alias “Peter Co” – a drug triad member operating in Luzon and Metro Manila
2. Herbert Colangco alias “Ampang” – linked to the Parojinog drug syndicate and Kuratong Baleleng gang.
3. Peter Lim alias “Jaguar” – Triad member behind Visayas operations

While both drug lords “Peter Co” and “Ampang” are already behind bars at the New Bilibid Prison, they are still directing the operations of their respective groups. Peter Co is the leader of the “Bilibid 19” gang, whereas Colangco worked with hotelier Richard King (who was killed in June 2014) and was responsible for bank robberies and kidnap-for-ransom.

Interestingly, while Herbert Colangco was behind bars, he was discovered to be staying in style enjoying lavish amenities such as a sauna facility, air conditioning units, a 48-inch flat screen television, firearms, and a sex doll. Equipped with 60-square-meter music studio with a stage for live musical performances, he produced his debut album, which actually went platinum (15,000 copies sold).

As for Peter Lim alias “Jaguar”, he is still able to fly to China and back to the Philippine but “The Punisher” has the following warning –  “Better tell him, ‘do not come back to the Philippines anymore.’ The moment he steps out of the plane, he will die.” Apparently, all the 3 drug lords are from mainland China.

Solicitor General Jose Calida said the drug lords mentioned by Duterte belong to “level 5” or the top tier of the drug hierarchy. The five levels of drug syndicates are grouped according to the capability to sell and quantity of drugs sold. In comparison, the Philippines police generals named and shamed by Duterte belong to the “lower levels” of the drug tier.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II admitted about 75% of drug trade all over the country are being cooked or transacted inside the New Bilibid Prison. The government is now considering moving the drug lords the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Camp Aguinaldo, or even to Caballo Island or an island in Palawan where there are no cell phone signals. - http://www.financetwitter.com/