All ears Despite criticisms, PNP insists its public engagement is improving
POLICE
IT HAS been criticized and castigated because of a bloody antidrug campaign that left thousands of people dead. To ward off these criticisms, Philippine National Police (PNP) has maintained that those killed had resisted arrest and fought it out with policemen.
But the police also took note of such comments in its efforts to improve its programs, according to Senior Supt. Benigno Durana, spokesman of PNP. As proof that it listens to criticisms, Durana said the police have recalibrated the antidrug program to make it more transparent and to show importance to human rights.
“I think we can address the perception about PNP, whether it is imagined or real, by listening to the criticisms since that is what the PNP chief is doing right now: by ensuring truth and transparency and by actively listening to the complaints of the people,” he said in an interview with TheManilaTimes. PNP members at the launch of a new task force group against illegal drugs.
PNP claimed that 4,853 drug suspects were killed in police operations nationwide, but some groups believed the number of fatalities was much higher. Human rights groups, the Catholic Church, and international organizations condemned the killings under the ruling administration’s “Oplan Tokhang” and “Oplan Double Barrel,” calling police personnel human rights violators.
First implemented under the term of retired director general Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa, Oplan Tokhang was relaunched last Jan. 29. Under its new guidelines, antidrug operations will be conducted only from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mondays through Fridays. A police team will be
joined by a representative from a religious sector, human rights group, or barangay council.
Based on documents obtained by TheTimes from Durana, an average of 25 deaths were recorded from Dec. 5, 2017 to Aug. 20, 2018. This was a huge drop from the average of 150
of Oplan Double Barrel’s implementation in July 2016. In February, CHR, or Commission DND was having second thoughts on the acquisition.
There is a possibility the submarine acquisition program would be rescheduled for the third horizon, Andolong said. But at the moment it remains part of the second horizon, whose implementation is from 2018 to 2022. The third horizon will be implemented from 2023 to 2028.
For its part, Philippine Marine Corps will also get modern equipment, Andolong said, and among these is Marine Forces Imagery and Targeting Support System (MITSS). “This is basically a small UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) and … from the US, since most of our UAVs are from them,” he added. The Marines will have nine UAVs. The Marines will also acquire two anti-submarine helicopters from the UK’s Leonardo Helicopter, Ltd, amounting to P5.3 billion.
South Korea, meanwhile, will sell eight amphibious assault vehicles to the Philippines, Andolong said. The deliveries are expected by on Human Rights, also noted the improvement in the way Tokhang operations were carried out.
“We are actively listening,” Durana said. “We are adjusting our strategies in order to address the accusations [thrown at PNP].” He added that “hard facts” would belie accusations that PNP has a “quota system,” and that the drug war has claimed the lives of 12,000 people.
asked. “They just took that out of thin air when, in fact, based on our data, those who died in police operations are only 4,853, and these are documented and we are even investigating it.”
He also denied the existence of a “quota system.” He stressed, “[I]f there is one, the bloody campaign against illegal drugs should have been maintained but as you can see, [the average of deaths] went down from 150 to something like 20.”
Intensified internal cleansing
Listening to criticisms made PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde more aware of the need to rid the police force of corrupt members. He admitted the culture of whitewashing or protecting scalawags has been ingrained in the agency, but said they are trying to eradicate it. “In my 30 years in service, I saw that there
scalawags within our midst in order for our image not to be tainted, so it’s like hiding the truth,” he explained. “This time, [we are more strict] so that [it] will serve as a warning to others, to prevent them or to discourage them from doing all these things.”
Durana said, “It’s very painful for us also to engage with people wearing our same rank that led to their death. [It is] painful but necessary. It’s a bitter pill we have to take in,
we will not root them out of our system, [they] will eventually kill the whole organization.”
Previously, De la Rosa established Counterintelligence Task Force ( CITF), which is tasked to catch erring policemen on the field. This was in February 2017, following the controversial death of South Korean businessman Jee Ick- joo, who died in the premises of Camp Crame under the hands of police officers. April and August 2019.
Three more multipurpose attack craft and 10 fast boats will also be delivered for the Philippine Navy’s modernization.
Matching Asean levels
With the acquisition of these equipment,
Philippines is on its way to catching up with its neighbors in the Southeast Asian region. “We do not pretend that we are on the same level with them; we’re just too far,” he pointed out. “We are not quite there yet, but we are on our way there.”
Once the second and third horizons are completed, Andolong said, the Philippines will have acquired a credible defense posture. “It means that we are able to patrol our territories effectively,” Andolong said. “When we need to respond to a contingency we have assets, be that vessels, aircraft, and personnel, and we will be able to maintain our territorial integrity and sovereignty.”