House seeks raps vs cops in violent dispersal at 2016 protest in Manila
Published Oct 9, 2018 06:32 pm
By Charissa Luci-Atienza
The House Committee on Human Rights sought is seeking the filing of criminal charges against Police Senior Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo and four other police officers for “violating the rights of the protesters” during the violent protest in front of the United States Embassy in 2016.
House of Representatives
(Michael Varcas / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) The panel unanimously approved yesterday the draft committee report on its probe on the the violent dispersal of the demonstration of national minority groups and their supporters in front of the US Embassy in Manila on Oct. 19, 2016. According to the panel, chaired by Zambales Rep. Cheryl Deloso-Montalla, criminal charges should be filed against Pedrozo, MPD deputy director for special operations; PO3 Franklin Kho, PO1 Mark John Millares, PO1 Anthony Amores and PO1 Hermit Caligagan. The draft committee report said Kho should be slapped with criminal charges for “nearly killing” the protesters when he rammed them as he drove back and forth the MPD police vehicle which he took over from another police officer. “The acts of PO3 Franklin Kho, in particular, showed blatant disregard for standard police operational procedure. His statement that he felt an impulse to protect his own life does not seem credible. The use of the vehicle as a means of restraining the protesters is a clear violation of standard operating procedure,” the committee report said. While, Millares, Amores and Caligagan were identified by the MPD Intel Division as involved in the mauling of the jeepney driver named Remark Sumalbag. During the hearing, ACT Teachers partylist Rep. France Castro sought the inclusion of Pedrozo in the list. “Despite the denials, it was also established that it was the dispersal order of PSSupt. Pedrozo that triggered the said violent incident,” the panel report said. The lawmakers said while the protest was admittedly held without a permit from the Manila City local government unit, “the dismissal should be done in a peaceful manner.” “In the instant case, while the police officers involved were allowed to disperse the protest, they did so without observing the legal proscription that it must be done in a peaceful manner,” the panel report said. The committee recommended that all police officers shall undergo human rights education and training. “All new police officers should likewise be required to undergo such education and training before assigned to their tasks to posts,” it said. The committee also cited the need to review the PNP Manual of Operational Procedures, for possible revision and amendments “with the view of reinforcing human rights education for police personnel instituting appropriate police protocols in cases where violence erupts during rallies and any form of public assembly and providing immediate medical attention and treatment of injured persons, to include efficient and effective coordination with the medical team or first-aid responders who are present in the assembly site.” The lawmakers insisted that the all police officers who would be assigned to respond in public assemblies should undergo mandatory orientation. The Montalla panel also recommended the review of the Internal Affairs Service procedures with emphasis on penalties meted for erring police personnel and and Batas Pambansa 880 (Public Assembly Act of 1985) and its applicability in current situations in order to avert violence in mass actions in the future. During the hearing, Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas asked the PNP about the status of the cases filed against the erring police officers. PNP-Human Rights Affairs Office (HRAO) Director Chief Superintendent Dennis Siervo said he cannot answer the question since he only prepared for the PNP’s position on the bills seeking to protect the rights of the human rights defenders He said it is the PNP’s Internal Affairs Service that could answer the lawmaker’s query. Karapatan Secretary General Cristina “Tinay” Palabay told the committee that the hearing on the charges filed at the Office of the Ombudsman has yet to be conducted. She expressed hope that the committee report “will spur the process for the investigating bodies” to immediately act on the matter.
House of Representatives(Michael Varcas / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) The panel unanimously approved yesterday the draft committee report on its probe on the the violent dispersal of the demonstration of national minority groups and their supporters in front of the US Embassy in Manila on Oct. 19, 2016. According to the panel, chaired by Zambales Rep. Cheryl Deloso-Montalla, criminal charges should be filed against Pedrozo, MPD deputy director for special operations; PO3 Franklin Kho, PO1 Mark John Millares, PO1 Anthony Amores and PO1 Hermit Caligagan. The draft committee report said Kho should be slapped with criminal charges for “nearly killing” the protesters when he rammed them as he drove back and forth the MPD police vehicle which he took over from another police officer. “The acts of PO3 Franklin Kho, in particular, showed blatant disregard for standard police operational procedure. His statement that he felt an impulse to protect his own life does not seem credible. The use of the vehicle as a means of restraining the protesters is a clear violation of standard operating procedure,” the committee report said. While, Millares, Amores and Caligagan were identified by the MPD Intel Division as involved in the mauling of the jeepney driver named Remark Sumalbag. During the hearing, ACT Teachers partylist Rep. France Castro sought the inclusion of Pedrozo in the list. “Despite the denials, it was also established that it was the dispersal order of PSSupt. Pedrozo that triggered the said violent incident,” the panel report said. The lawmakers said while the protest was admittedly held without a permit from the Manila City local government unit, “the dismissal should be done in a peaceful manner.” “In the instant case, while the police officers involved were allowed to disperse the protest, they did so without observing the legal proscription that it must be done in a peaceful manner,” the panel report said. The committee recommended that all police officers shall undergo human rights education and training. “All new police officers should likewise be required to undergo such education and training before assigned to their tasks to posts,” it said. The committee also cited the need to review the PNP Manual of Operational Procedures, for possible revision and amendments “with the view of reinforcing human rights education for police personnel instituting appropriate police protocols in cases where violence erupts during rallies and any form of public assembly and providing immediate medical attention and treatment of injured persons, to include efficient and effective coordination with the medical team or first-aid responders who are present in the assembly site.” The lawmakers insisted that the all police officers who would be assigned to respond in public assemblies should undergo mandatory orientation. The Montalla panel also recommended the review of the Internal Affairs Service procedures with emphasis on penalties meted for erring police personnel and and Batas Pambansa 880 (Public Assembly Act of 1985) and its applicability in current situations in order to avert violence in mass actions in the future. During the hearing, Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas asked the PNP about the status of the cases filed against the erring police officers. PNP-Human Rights Affairs Office (HRAO) Director Chief Superintendent Dennis Siervo said he cannot answer the question since he only prepared for the PNP’s position on the bills seeking to protect the rights of the human rights defenders He said it is the PNP’s Internal Affairs Service that could answer the lawmaker’s query. Karapatan Secretary General Cristina “Tinay” Palabay told the committee that the hearing on the charges filed at the Office of the Ombudsman has yet to be conducted. She expressed hope that the committee report “will spur the process for the investigating bodies” to immediately act on the matter.