FILE Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate. NOY MORCOSO/INQUIRER.NET
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte’s proposal to arm anti-crime volunteers and groups would be “another bloody disaster waiting to happen,” Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said Monday.
Zarate said that such mindset “will only make the streets more dangerous because this will usher in a rise in extrajudicial killings and vigilantism.”
“If this is allowed then incidents involving gun abuse — such as Jonel Nuezca in December 2020 and Hensie Zinampan earlier this year — would grow exponentially. This will only worsen the already discredited but bloody ‘nanlaban’ claim of the police,” Zarate said in a statement.
Instead, Zarate said policemen and soldiers should have bodycams to prevent abuses and not more people carrying guns.
“There are more productive ways to spend the people’s budget other than this absurd and another militarist proposal,” Zarate said.
“In this time of pandemic, the Duterte administration should concentrate more on free mass testing, pro-active contact tracing, faster vaccine roll out and ayuda for our people, not this types of militarist proposals that only divert the issue on what really needs to be done now,” he added.
Duterte mentioned the idea during the launch of the Global Coalition of Lingkod Bayan Advocacy Support Groups and Force Multipliers in Camp Crame. The coalition is composed of civilian organizations that will serve as partners of the police in fighting crime. — Sofia Vertucio, trainee
RELATED STORY:
President’s idea of arming civilian anti-crime groups ‘very dangerous’ – Robredo
Eleazar backs Duterte’s call to arm anti-crime volunteers ‘for their protection’