MANILA, Philippines— Senator Richard Gordon did not mince his words as he slammed on Thursday erring policemen allegedly involved in the spate of unlawful killings in the country.
“Nakakahiya ang ginagawa ng ilang mga taong unipormado,” Gordon said as he enumerated some of the killings allegedly perpetrated by policemen during the hearing of the Senate committee on justice.
“How can you look at your children at night when you go home and some of your members are not good law-abiding citizens?” the panel chair asked.
Gordon reminded policemen that they were authorized to carry a weapon to serve and protect the people and not to “harass, abuse, and kill” them.
“Police have no right to become judge, jury and executioner at the same time,” he stressed.
Gordon noted that his own father, former Olongapo James Leonard T. Gordon, was assassinated by a police chief.
“I spent the whole part and until now of my life looking for the killers of my father,” he said, “And you know sometimes you really have to know what goes into the mind of a policeman who was given a badge, who seems to think that he’s overwhelmingly powerful…”
But Congress would not just sit idly and watch these killings continue.
READ: Senators seek probe of spate of killings
“While we cooperate with the executive, we will not cooperate with injustice,” Gordon said.
“You are not exempt from the long arm of the law, you are not exempt from facing charges just because you wear a uniform and a badge,” he reiterated, directing his statement to the police.