Senate panels want cops in ‘Tokhang’ drive admonished
The police and other law enforcement officers involved in “Project Tokhang (knock and plead)” must be admonished and stopped from urging drug personalities to sign “voluntary surrender certificates.”
This recommendation was contained in a report released to the media on Wednesday night by a joint panel in the Senate that investigated the alleged extrajudicial killings in the country.
The probe was conducted by the Senate committee on justice and human rights chaired by Senator Richard Gordon, along with the committee on public order and dangerous drugs headed by Senator Panfilo Lacson.
“At the outset, the immutable and universal principles that respect human rights must be instituted in law enforcement,” said a 19-page executive summary of the report.
“In this connection, the police and other law enforcement officers, through Project Tokhang or any similar program, must be admonished and refrained from urging ‘surenderees’ to sign ‘voluntary surrender certificates’ in violation of their Constitutional rights, particularly the rights of the accused.”
The joint panel recognized the need to put a stop to the unabated killings and “to shake off the lack of urgency and apathy to address this grave problem on the part of the police, government, and the people.”
“The police must be held accountable,” the summary reads.
“Check and balance mechanisms must be further strengthened to ensure that public order and safety is promoted.”
“If we can stop the killings regardless of the terminology we use to refer to them, whether extra-judicial or not, then our people will restore their faith in the police and the government,” it further said.
The report listed the following recommendations to address the problems:
1. Amend Republic Act No. 8551 or the Philippine National Police Reform and Reorganization Act of 1998 “to enable the Internal Affairs Service to act swiftly o investigations of police personnel, and to strengthen disciplinary mechanisms such as the People’s Law Enforcement Board.”
2. Create and designate special criminal courts for erring and abusive police, alongside illegal drug courts.
3. Create joint congressional oversight committee to monitor killings and paramilitary units.
4. Take a bite out of crime through better crime-fighting strategies
