Charles Teves
A number of senators on Monday called for a stop to police brutality after a mother and her son in Tarlac were murdered by an off-duty cop.
Senator Nancy Binay asked what the Philippine National Police (PNP) would do to solve the “long list of transgressions” by the police.
“May ninja cops, mañanita cops, ex-cop na land grabber at illegal logger, berdugong pulis—buong taon may nakakahiyang headline tungkol sa pulis. Ano na ba ang ginagawa ng liderato tungkol dito? The people expect the police to be their defenders, not their offenders,” Binay said in a statement.
“Rather than being the people’s assurance of law and order, lately, many of our cops are becoming the face of terror and impunity, blatantly disregarding the rule of law and spitting on our values. Tama na, sobra na, kailangang itigil na ang pang-aabuso,” she added.
She explained that a top-to-bottom value re-orientation of enforcement institutions would be a big step in ending the culture of impunity, police abuse, and undesirable practices.
She said that structural and internal reforms are needed, most especially in punishing cops who are proven culpable.
“Something is deeply wrong when you have both top cops and rank-and-file who flout the law,” she said.
The senator also seemed to have taken a shot at PNP chief Debold Sinas, saying that erring cops no longer have fear of getting punished, and some of them are even promoted.
“Wala nang takot, dahil tila hindi naman na yata sila napaparusahan. Kadalasan napo-promote pa nga,” Binay pointed out.
Before his promotion to the said position, Sinas was criticized for celebrating his birthday in the midst of strict quarantine measures implemented in the country. The public urged him to resign for being a hypocrite.
Binay also said that the PNP finds it challenging to address the “clear discrepancies between their vision, mission, and the undesirable attitude and behavior of some of its members.”
“’Yung nakagisnang police orientation toward service is supposedly related to an orientation toward crime control and community service, but apparently the PNP always comes short in addressing the clear discrepancies between their vision, mission, and the undesirable attitude and behavior of some of its members,” she said.
Senator Risa Hontiveros meanwhile condemned the incident, adding that “[t]hese rogues act like they are judge, jury, and executioner.”
“It’s time to remove this trick mirror that makes these police think they are all-powerful & untouchable. Nasa ilalim din sila ng batas. These rogues act like they are judge, jury & executioner. They are not. Binabastos nila ang batas,” the senator tweeted.
“We will take this up at the Senate. We must restore the dignity of the law and the meaning of peace and order. There is no peace without justice,” she added.
Former PNP chief Senator Panfilo Lacson on his part wants police to show Police Senior Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca, the suspect who killed Sonya Gregorio and her son Frank last Sunday, “no mercy.”
“If what’s on [the] video tells the whole story. I enjoin the Philippine National Police leadership to show no mercy. They should spare no effort to make sure that he rots in jail. He’s the last policeman that they need in the force,” Lacson said in a statement.
