MANILA, Philippines — Senator Francis Tolentino on Wednesday cried mea culpa on his earlier suggestion that the nine policemen tagged in the shooting of four Army intelligence officers in Jolo, Sulu, should be wearing detainee shirts, instead of their complete uniform, when attending the Senate probe on the incident.
“I may have made some mistakes, mea culpa, when I mentioned that cases have been filed,” Tolentino said during the Senate public order and dangerous drugs committee hearing on the alleged misencounter between police officers and military men in Sulu last June.
“It now beholds upon the Department of Justice to really act fast in filing the appropriate cases,” he added.
Tolentino earlier suggested that the nine officers, consisting of six Jolo policemen and three members of the Sulu Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (PDEU), should attend the hearing wearing detainee shirts as they are under investigation.
The nine policemen tagged in the shooting were in their police uniform when they attended the probe.
But Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Archie Gamboa said that Tolentino’s suggestion was not proper, as the policemen were not even charged in court.
Tolentino, however, had this to say to Gamboa: “I still maintain, with all due respect to chief PNP Gen. Gamboa, that when it comes to proceedings in the Senate, in a committee, the rules of the Senate it would be plenus, plenary and comprehensive.”
“It means we dictate the terms of the investigation, and with all due respect, even the dress code,” he added.
The senator added that his idea for the policemen to wear detainee shirts when attending the hearing was “just a suggestion.”
“So I might have made a mistake, that was just a suggestion, nasabi ko siguro, mag-t-shirt ng detainee, pero pwede naman na rin po mag-suot ng civilian,” he said.
(I may have said that they should wear a detainee shirt, but they can even wear civilian clothing.)