{"id":928499,"date":"2017-09-07T07:02:20","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T23:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/?p=928499"},"modified":"2017-09-07T03:37:56","modified_gmt":"2017-09-06T19:37:56","slug":"solon-to-pnp-chief-crying-wont-erase-suspicions-about-killings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/928499\/solon-to-pnp-chief-crying-wont-erase-suspicions-about-killings","title":{"rendered":"Solon to PNP chief: Crying won\u2019t erase suspicions about killings"},"content":{"rendered":"
Director General Ronald dela Rosa (center), chief of the Philippine National Police, gestures before the start of a Senate investigation on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017, on the death of Kian Loyd delos Santos, a 17-year-old student who was killed in an alleged drug crackdown, last Aug. 16. The killing has sparked public outrage over President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s so-called war on drugs. (Photo by AARON FAVILA \/ AP)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
No, Bato, shedding tears in public will not solve your problems.<\/p>\n\n
A lawmaker on Wednesday told the barrel-chested chief of the Philippine National Police, Director General Ronald \u201cBato\u201d dela Rosa, that crying in Senate hearings would not vanish questions about the suspicious and alarming killings of suspects in President Duterte\u2019s war on drugs.<\/p>\n\n
In a statement, Kabayan Rep. Harry Roque said Dela Rosa should instead make public inquest reports on the thousands of suspects killed in police operations, including 17-year-old Kian delos Santos and 19-year-old Carl Angelo Arnaiz, whose deaths in the hands of police provoked a public outcry.<\/p>\n\n
He noted that under the PNP\u2019s own operations procedure, there should be \u201cno presumption of regularity\u201d in police operations that result in the deaths of suspects.<\/p>\n\n
Under Rule 15.4 of the police manual, \u201cinquest is mandatory when a suspect dies during a police operation,\u201d Roque said.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cMy question to PNP Chief Ronald dela Rosa is, where are the inquest reports of all these deaths?\u201d Roque said. \u201c[These reports] are necessary to remove doubt on any irregularity in police operations in which the death of a suspect happened,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cCrying during hearings will not remove these doubts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n
On Tuesday, Dela Rosa broke down as he defended his organization from charges that it was behind the extrajudicial killing of thousands of drug suspects, saying President Duterte never gave him orders to kill.<\/p>\n\n
In November last year, the police chief also cried when he appeared at the Senate under similar circumstances.<\/p>\n\n
Roque said Dela Rosa should see to it that his men followed the police manual in drug raids, citing the suspicious circumstances in the deaths of Delos Santos and Arnaiz, who were separately gunned down two days apart by police in Caloocan City.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cIt is alarming when two lives are ended too soon. It is doubly terrifying when these lives were ended by agents of the state,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n
Police bible<\/strong><\/p>\n\n \u201cI expect Director General Ronald dela Rosa to order the PNP chain of command to enforce the strict observance of the provisions of the PNP-OP, as this is the police bible for any and all police operations. The families of Kian and Carl, and all the other victims deserve no less,\u201d Roque said.<\/p>\n\n Citing official data from the Philippine Information Agency, he said there were 3,811 deaths in the government\u2019s campaign against narcotics from July 1, 2016, to Aug. 29, 2017.<\/p>\n\n \u201cIn fact, in one month\u2014from July 27 to Aug. 29\u2014there have been 360 deaths at the hands of the police. The 3,811 does not even include the homicides with links to illegal drugs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has also asked the PNP to open the investigation reports on those killings.<\/p>\n\n But Dela Rosa told reporters on Monday that he could not release the reports to the CHR without clearance from President Duterte.<\/p>\n\n He said Mr. Duterte had given instructions not to release the investigation reports without his permission.<\/p>\n\n Dela Rosa\u2019s tearful defense of the PNP came after Sen. Risa Hontiveros made the observation that there seemed to be a policy to kill drug suspects in the war on drugs.<\/p>\n\n Talking to reporters later on Tuesday, Mr. Duterte said two deaths, referring to the killings of Delos Santos and Arnaiz, did not mean the government had a policy to kill drug suspects.<\/p>\n\n \u201cShe is so stupid,\u201d he said, referring to Hontiveros.<\/p>\n\n President\u2019s words are policy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Hontiveros responded on Wednesday, saying the deaths of 8,000 to 13,000 suspects in the war on drugs showed there was a policy to kill despite Mr. Duterte\u2019s denial.<\/p>\n\n \u201cI\u2019m not a genius but I know that while two deaths do not make a policy, thousands dead, without remorse, regret or action from the government, do,\u201d Hontiveros said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n \u201cEight thousand to 13,000 have already died in this bloody war on drugs, mostly from the ranks of the poor,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n \u201cPresident Duterte may insult me but he cannot deny the fact that his words coming from his lips, or those of any head of state, have the effect of policy,\u201d she said, citing Mr. Duterte\u2019s \u201cwell-documented record of encouraging violence against drug dependents and suspected drug pushers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Vice President Leni Robredo joined the fray, calling on the PNP to prove to the people that it does not approve of killing drug suspects.<\/p>\n\n \u201cI think it is the obligation of the police to show the people that they do not sanction these kinds of killings. Whatever they say, if it is contrary to what the people see, the question will always be there,\u201d Robredo said. \u2014With reports from Nikko Dizon and Jeannette I. Andrade<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" No, Bato, shedding tears in public will not solve your problems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":928168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,34,37,45],"tags":[2329,182619],"byline":[182],"source":[206078],"column":[],"editor":[],"videographer":[],"position":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n