99 percent of police forces are doing their jobs well—Roxas
Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II (center). NOY MORCOSO/INQUIERER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II defended the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday, saying that 99-percent or the “overwhelming majority” of the police forces are doing their jobs well.
This came after the PNP were told to cleanse its ranks after several policemen were found to have been involved in some high-profile crimes.
Last Monday, nine Quezon City policemen were tagged by the victims in the Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (Edsa) robbery and kidnapping incident cracked by a photo uploaded by a concerned motorist on Twitter that went viral.
The victims said the band led by Chief Inspector Joseph de Vera and Senior Inspector Oliver Villanueva assaulted the white Toyota Fortuner they were riding and locked them up at the La Loma Police Station where the policemen were all assigned to.
De Vera and Villanueva, the highest ranking among the police suspects, are both from the Class of 2001 of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA).
“There are about 150,000 police. I am not defending De Vera but rogue members of the PNP are only the few percentage of the entire force,” Roxas said in a press briefing at Camp Crame.
“Wag naman nating lahatin na kasama sa criminal gangs at criminal activities. Ninety nine percent, the overwhelming majority of the police forces, ay ginagawa ang trabaho nila sa mabuting paraan ,” Roxas said.
Roxas also recalled the case of the January 2013 alleged rubout in Atimonan town, Quezon province where 25 policemen and soldiers, including the ground commander of the Atimonan operation, Superintendent Hansel Marantan, were slapped with criminal charges for the killings.
“Whether Marantan or De Vera, their fellow policemen themselves ran after them,” he said.
As of 2014, the entire force of the PNP is at 148,000.
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