ANGUISHED HOMECOMING | Rodaliza Baltazar, a migrant worker, weeps upon arriving at her Navotas City home and seeing the body of her 17-year-old son Jerhode, who was shot dead by the police on Aug. 2, 2023, in a case of mistaken identity. Charges have been filed against the six officers concerned. (Photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — After police officials admitted procedural mistakes in the wrongful killing of 17-year-old Jerhode “Jemboy” Baltazar in Navotas City, Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos has ordered the Philippine National Police to review not only its operational procedures but also the level of accountability.
“We will revisit all of their modes of procedure and take up the doctrine of command responsibility, to see up to what level of officers should be held accountable. This should never happen again,” Abalos said after officials admitted evident mistakes that resulted in the killing of Baltazar in Navotas City on Aug. 2.
Officials were relieved that all the Navotas City police officers involved in the killing are now detained with appropriate criminal and administrative charges filed.
But police officials still want to determine why such mistakes, or “lapses in judgment,” occurred when the PNP implemented new policies on the use of force just two years ago after thousands of suspects were killed during the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
PNP public information office chief Brig. Gen. Redrico Maranan said it was normal for police officers on the ground to prioritize self-preservation and survival, especially in responding to armed offenders.
But he maintained that the 2021 Revised PNP Police Operational Procedures, implemented only in September 2021, clearly and repeatedly stated the conditions when lawmen could fire their firearms, and only in a “last resort” scenario.
Under the current police manual, the use of firearms is only justified if the offender “poses an imminent danger of causing death or injury to the police officer or other persons” or under the doctrines of self-defense, defense of a relative, and defense of a stranger.
“The police shall not use warning shots during police operation except when the police officer is outnumbered and overpowered, and his/her life and limb is in imminent danger,” the police manual stated.
Among the new provisions of the 2021 manual was the section on “use of force policy” which it explicitly says that “the excessive use of force to arrest or immobilize the suspect during police operation is prohibited.”