Address
of
His Excellency Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Philippines
On the sixth anniversary of the Philippine National Police
Delivered at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Grandstand, January 30, 1997]
We will win the
war against crime
IF WE HAVE MADE decisive gains in moving the economy forward—banishing once and for all our reputation as the sick man of Asia—that is partly because of the climate of better peace and order we have established in our country.
If we are living in an unprecedented time of political stability, that is partly because we have ensured the rule of law in our society. And if we dare to dream today that we will enter the 21st century as a modern and developed nation, that will be partly because of the work of the Philippine National Police and our other law-enforcement agencies.
A perceptible improvement in peace and order
Some can argue the record—by highlighting a kidnapping case here or denouncing a heinous crime of murder or rape there. Others can belabor an instance where our police authorities may have failed in catching suspects. And still others may deplore a spate of crimes in one neighborhood.
Yet the overall record tells the nation of perceptible improvement in the climate of peace and order in the country. Our police officers are faring better in enforcing the law. The indexes on various crimes are going down. And perhaps most significant of all, there is more public support for police authorities today than we have known in a long, long time, as borne out by recent public-opinion surveys. Many people don’t like statistics to be cited in talking about crime in our country. But this much must at least be made known. In 1994 the total crime volume nationwide stood at 93,300. In 1995 this went down to 79,248. And last year this went down further to 77,657.
I say this with no thought of glossing over the problems we still face. I myself have said on several occasions—and during my last Ulat sa Bayan—that crime is a grave menace to our society. And it is no exaggeration to describe our struggle against it as warfare.
Building on what we have done
But we will only win this war by building on what we have resolutely done these past four and a half years. We cannot win it by wild denunciations of the police whenever crime occurs. Or by mindless demands for wholesale resignations when occasional hitches happen.
We still must improve our crime-fighting capabilities. We must redouble our vigil over the safety of our citizenry and communities. We must increase the presence of the police at the level of the neighborhood. And we must add more personnel to the Philippine National Police, even as we weed out those who cannot make the grade. The central challenge now is how we can do more—and better. To this, let us turn our undivided attention as we begin the seventh year of the Philippine National Police.
In my Ulat sa Bayan on January 2, I described the challenge of fighting crime as “a war of attrition”—because the struggle is necessarily long and hard. Crime is not like a hostile army we are facing in the field, which, once vanquished in several battles, can be induced to surrender and lay down its arms.
Crime, like an octopus, has many tentacles. And at the end of the day, even after you have cut off many of its arms, the menace can only be contained. It does not disappear.
For such a war, we must wage battle on many fronts. We must wage it in the streets, in the schools, in public places, in the neighborhoods, even in our homes.
For such a war, we must do battle with all kinds of criminals—the terrorist, the drug lord, the kidnapper, the bank robber, the jueteng financier, the child molester, the rapist, the murderer, as well as the petty criminal.
And for such a war, we must enlist the support of not just our law enforcers but every law-abiding citizen in our country. For criminals do not thrive or operate in a vacuum. They need time and space. They feed on a measure of support from others. We must deprive them of these.
Victory over crime cannot come from fits and spurts of effort. The struggle must be sustained and relentless. And if civil society is to reduce crime to a minimum, it must be courageous enough to look into the roots of crime—and cut them off permanently. All this calls for a master plan of action that we must carry out with resolve and without letup.
Five-year master plan of action
In April last year—during the National Summit on Peace and Order of the five pillars of the Criminal Justice System—we came up with such a plan. We conceived and consolidated a Five-Year Plan of Action for Peace and Order and Crime Fighting.
We took into consideration not just the recommendations of the top officials of our criminal justice system, but the counsel and experience of those who are in the frontlines in the war against crime—the police officers out on the beat, investigators, prosecutors, crusaders against violence, judges and jail wardens. And I believe we have come up with a plan that will really work.
This year, we begin the formal implementation of the Master Plan of Action for Peace and Order. It contains, as many of you already know, two vital components. The first component presents a vision of what we are trying to achieve; the second, a strategy of how to get there. Of the vision, the overarching goal is what we believe is essential to a civil and free society.
This means that we must be a society governed by laws, not men. This means laws that are reasonable and just, consonant with our belief in human rights and freedom. And this means a citizenry that recognizes both its rights as individuals and its duties to society.
Catch them, convict them, jail them
Order will reign in our country when we imbibe this vision of what is expected of each of us as citizens. Someone has said that the basic philosophy is that the Filipino is maka-Diyos, maka-bayan, maka-tao and maka-kalikasan. To the extent that we foster this ideal, to that extent also will we ensure the public safety. To get to where we want to go, however, we need a coherent strategy. This the Master Plan provides in a two-pronged effort: by reinforcing the pillars of the criminal justice system, and by highlighting values through moral recovery.
Institutional strength in the criminal justice system is essential to fighting crime in society. As the former New York governor Mario Cuomo once put it: “We have to catch the criminals; they have to know they are going to be caught. We have to convict them; they have to know they are going to be convicted. And we have to can them; there has to be a place where they pay a price.”
Catch them, convict them, jail them. The certitude that all this will happen is what gives meaning to the saying that “crime does not pay.” But some of our countrymen believe that crime does pay. So we also have a problem of values to face. We must address the erosion of values in our midst which has led to the idea of every man for himself and the hell with society. We have to inculcate the spirit of civic responsibility into our people. And this means taking the war against crime also to our schools, our churches and our homes—where values are nurtured and cemented.
In the past, antisocial and even anarchic behavior festered in our midst because there was an overwhelming sense of failure in the national as well as local leadership.
But today, we are a nation that is moving forward and upward. More and more of our countrymen are being brought into the circle of growth and development. There is so much more to hope and fight for. So I say—this is a time when we can make our people believe that there is reason for them to fight for their civil society and their country. We can win the argument against the doomsayers in our society. And we can win it because there is reason to trust again in public authority.
Professionalism and ethics
Public trust has been hard-won for the PNP, so there is all the more reason to jealously guard and nurture it. Because many crimes are often committed by members or former members of the force, we should concentrate on the progress of our program to professionalize the PNP. How are we doing in this regard?
I raise this question so that you can make a sober self-assessment. From here on, you are expected more than ever to value and treasure the good will of the community, which we saw during the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit which took place without a hitch. This good will did not come by accident. It was the result of your performance.
I note with satisfaction that you have set aside the 7th of January as PNP Ethics Day—which highlights the fact that “Professional Conduct and Ethical Standards” must guide the members of the PNP—individually and together.
By this yardstick, morals and ethics are as important as technology and courage in the life of a police officer. We cannot have good law enforcers if either is missing in their professional life.
In the years that have passed since the creation of the PNP, one question has often been asked: Who will protect us from the police? I think we have given a solid answer to this question. We have consistently said and proven that the great majority of police officers lead lives of service, honor and justice. We have relied upon this good majority to protect the service from the scalawags. And we have weeded out many of those misfits from the service.
Professionalization is going on
To those who persist in doubting the efficacy of our police corps, we should in turn ask them: What will happen to civil society without the police?
The answer is chaos and anarchy. Even the incurable pessimists would agree with that. We have had problems, yes, with police officers who have abused their powers and proved prey to corruption. But we have not been passive before the problem. The PNP has sought over these past six years to transform itself into a truly professional, dynamic and dedicated police force.
If the result is not yet the ideal that society expects, that is surely because the process of professionalization is still going on. We have had only six years to put together this civilian national police organization. And we inherited a lot of baggage from decades of authoritarianism, civil unrest and social disarray.
Today, we are in a strong position to do better in this effort of police professionalization and modernization—just as we are doing better on the economic, political and social fronts. No one should underestimate either our resolve or our capacity because we have already proven ourselves in many initiatives.
Where are the doubters now who said we could not turn the economy around four years ago?
Where are the naysayers who said that “Philippines 2000” was just a foolish slogan?
So I believe we deserve the faith of our countrymen and countrywomen when we say that we are resolved to turn the PNP into a professional and modern police corps. That the PNP deserves our people’s support in all that it is doing to ensure the public safety. And that we will win together the war against crime in our society.
I underscore the point of public support because police officers—no matter how highly professional, dynamic and motivated—cannot win this war alone. Our people must help to fight this war. The British statesman Edmund Burke two hundred years ago said it memorably: “For evil to triumph, it is enough that good men do nothing.”
Vigilant and active communities
Fortunately, many more among our citizenry are doing something to help in the war against crime. The PNP has been enlisting the active participation of various sectors of society. A case in point is the 1995 covenant between the PNP and the Bankers’ Association of the Philippines. The steep drop of bank robberies in 1996 would have been impossible without the bankers getting seriously involved.
So the lesson is clear: where the community becomes vigilant and active, crime can be dramatically reduced and contained.
The unity, solidarity and teamwork between the police and the community provide the soul and substance of police-community relations—to which you have dedicated the entire month of January every year. The police officer belongs to the community as keeper of the peace. The community in turn must support his work by abiding by the law and helping to prevent others from flouting it.
It is encouraging that as we observe the PNP’s 6th anniversary, ordinary citizens are now actively involved in the war against crime. For this points us to victory in this struggle, given the increased capacity and dedication of our police corps.
My comrades and colleagues, let us therefore use this moment as an occasion for reaffirming our duty to our people and our country. Let us say to each other and let us tell our countrymen that we will ensure that the Master Plan of Action for Peace and Order works—that we will be unsparing of our time and effort in waging the war against crime in our society.
Finally, let me stress the importance of maintaining always the chain of command. When a police officer is assigned to manage an area of responsibility, the least expected of him is to do his best—and be his best. And the last thing expected of him is to question—before the bar of public opinion or before the court of law—his designation or relief.
Taking the fight to the enemy
The discipline of the chain of command is one doctrine that must remain inviolable. For upon its workings depends the success of all our efforts—great and small. No war was ever won without armies holding together behind their commanders. Neither can the war against crime be won without our unity and firmness of purpose.
At this time when we know that we are winning this war, when we feel the people rallying behind our efforts, and when the climate is good for peace and development—we must strive more than ever for solidarity and efficiency. Let us take the fight to the enemy before us—crime in our society.