By Genalyn Kabiling Even as he pledged to protect police and jail officials who are performing their duty, President Duterte has called on law enforcers to avoid arresting the "wrong person" and committing other abuses in their anti-crime operations. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivers his speech during the oath taking ceremony of the newly elected government officials of Cagayan de Oro City at the Xavier Sports and Country Club on June 12, 2019. (ROBINSON NIÑAL JR. / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN) The President said that, while most inmates deserved to be in prison, he was grieving for "innocent" detainees after recognizing some problems in the criminal justice system. "Because of the huge number, persons arrested every day, nagkakaroon tayo ng bedlam sa ating presohan . Of course, I grieve for those who are really innocent," he said during the 28th anniversary of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. "I hope that the law enforcement would never use it for personal reasons or arrest a wrong person to send him to jail. ‘Yan ang mahirap ," he said. Duterte, a former Davao City mayor and state prosecutor, said the arrest of a supposed innocent person places the prosecutor in a "quandary" "You want to help but you do not want to be also placed in the suspicion that you are in the take. That’s why there is always the fight of moral, you know, responsibility," he said. Duterte, who has waged a controversial war on drugs and criminality since he assumed office in 2016, said he could only "pray for the innocents" but will let the guilty ones "rot in hell for all time." "Eh ang karamihan niyan, hayaan mo ‘yang mga g

* ‘yan tutal they deserved it. Really. Minsan may palpak eh. And that’s the problem that bugs us ," he said. With the huge numbers of drug-related arrests daily, Duterte said he understood why a judge or prosecutor would sometimes agree to a plea of lesser offense of drug possession. Duterte, however, raised doubts if such plea bargaining should be made applicable in large-scale drug cases. "Because even if you had one kilo and you strike a plea bargaining agreement with the prosecution, ‘yung iba nagdududa ako sa kalaki. It’s the volume. Dalawang kilo, I can hardly imagine of how you can be just a possessor or in possession," he said Meantime, the President directed law enforcers to perform their duty "according to the books," as he vowed to protect and defend them. He said they should not worry about facing cases, promising that he would "not abandon" them. "Basta nasa tama lang kayo an I have been telling this to everyone time and again, maybe for the nth time before you na you just do your duty in according to the books. And you do not have to worry about cases," he said. "Just do your duty and kung magkakaso-kaso ka I’m sure General Año and me will look at it in a very positive way. As long as there are no abuses," he said. He also promised to stand by jail authorities in case they are involved in shooting incidents with inmates. "Pero ‘yung namatay diyan sa jail at nabaril sa inside sa kulungan, eh mabuti na rin ‘yun sa kanila . We have cases like that. But I assure you, I will not abandon them," he said. But he told the jail officials "not to invent a story" and instead tell him the truth about any shooting incident inside prison. "If there’s anything that I can do and I said especially cases that are duty connected or in the fulfilment of your duty, do not --- huwag mo lang akong bolahin . Do not invent a story na papalusutin mo ang sarili mo ," he said. "Ako na ang maghanap ng lusot, hindi ikaw. So when I talk to you, tell me the truth," he added.