Erring cops ‘don’t reflect’ whole org —PNP
MANILA — Erring officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) “do not reflect” the whole organization, it said yesterday, after a court found a policeman guilty of torturing two teenagers at the height of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war.
The PNP remains steadfast in its duty to uphold and respect human rights in all aspects of police operations against crime, its Public Information Office chief Colonel Redrico Maranan said.
“Nevertheless, any acts committed by erring personnel [do] not reflect the views of the whole PNP organization,” he said in a statement.
A Manila court found earlier this month that police officers Jefrey Perez and Ricky Arquilita tortured two teenagers in 2017. The officers also planted a weapon and drugs on one of the victims.
The teens — Reynaldo de Guzman, 14, and Carl Arnaiz, 19 — were later killed by the same officers, the court said.
However, murder charges filed against the officers were withdrawn because they were submitted in the wrong jurisdiction.
Perez was jailed for life for planting evidence and given a minimum sentence of 20 years for torture, according to the court ruling, which was released on Wednesday, November 23.
Arquilita died during the trial.
The PNP “respects” the court’s decision, its Public Information Office said.
“While it may be true that a police officer was involved in the said incident, we believe that the decision was a result of a fair trial, the former PNP officers involved having been given equal opportunity to be heard in court,” it said.
The teenagers were last seen together on the evening of August 17, 2017.
Hours later, a witness saw a police car parked on the side of a road. He watched as a handcuffed Arnaiz got out of the vehicle, knelt down, raised his hands and shouted “I will surrender” before Perez shot him.
The body of De Guzman was found weeks later. It had dozens of stab wounds.
The police officers denied the charges. They claimed, in the case involving Arnaiz, they had tried to arrest him on suspicion of robbery but shot him dead when he resisted.
During his six-year term, which ended in June, Duterte openly ordered police to shoot dead drug suspects if officers’ lives were in danger.
More than 6,200 people died in his anti-drug campaign, according to official figures. But rights groups estimate the true figure was in the tens of thousands.
The crackdown was widely condemned and sparked an international investigation, but only three policemen have been convicted for killing a drug suspect.
The PNP aims to utilize a more holistic approach to combating crime, which would involve the Church and the community through its Kasimbayanan program, Maranan said.
However, the PNP said it could not promise zero casualties in its operations as the safety of its personnel is also a priority.
Meanwhile, rights groups welcomed Perez’s conviction.
Human Rights Watch researcher Carlos Conde said the conviction was “rare good news in the Philippines drug war.”
“We can only hope the courts deal expeditiously with other cases,” Conde said.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., who succeeded Duterte, has vowed to continue the drug war but with a focus on prevention and rehabilitation.
Police have killed 46 drug suspects since Marcos took power, national police chief General Rodolfo Azurin told reporters recently. Activists said the real number was more than a hundred.
But Azurin insisted that “as much as possible” police tried to avoid killing suspects.
Under pressure from the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Duterte government began examining hundreds of cases of drug operations that led to deaths.
The effort is still underway and 25 officers have been charged.