PNP hails CA ruling to junk ACT petition vs profiling

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) welcomed on Friday the decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) to junk the petition of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) to stop the profiling of its teachers being implemented by the police.

“We welcome the denial by the Court of Appeals of the petition filed by the Alliance of Concerned Teachers seeking court action against lawful performance of duty by the Philippine National Police to protect the state from its enemies,” Senior Supt. Bernard Banac, spokesperson of the PNP, told reporters.

Banac said the PNP maintains that all of its operations are “within the mandate of the law under the presumption of regularity and with utmost respect for human rights and dignity of citizens.”

In its decision, the CA said the petitioners failed to submit certified true copies of memoranda issued by the intelligence units of the PNP ordering the profiling of teachers affiliated with ACT.

READ: CA dismisses plea to stop cops from profiling ACT members

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) also welcomed the decision, saying the petition had “elementary errors” and contained “malicious and groundless accusations” that the police violated the right to freedom of association of ACT. 

“It is clear from the court’s decision that the petition was half-baked and contained elementary errors which a well-prepared lawyer would never commit,” DILG spokesperson, Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya, said in a statement.

“The DILG is dismayed that the ACT — instead of entering into a dialogue with the PNP — has chosen to go to the courts in an effort to politicize this issue to increase name recall and media mileage,” he also said.

Malaya said that ACT’s petition was “nothing but a propaganda” to gain publicity for the partylist elections. /jpv