Police abuses traced to PNP’s military roots

MANILA, Philippines—The chief of the Philippine National Police said Thursday “birth pains” from his organization’s military past might be a factor in the involvement of policemen in extra-legal killings and enforced disappearances.

“Somehow, there were dysfunctions developed over the years,” PNP Director General Raul M. Bacalzo said in a human rights forum with Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and a delegation from the European Union at Camp Crame.

“The PNP has a long history. It started in 1901 under the American regime. It became militarized in 1936 under the Philippine Constabulary. Then eventually in 1991 we were separated from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and formed under the Department of the Interior and Local Government,” Bacalzo said.

“So there are some, shall we say, birth pains, when PNP was formed in 1991,” Bacalzo said in answer to a question on why the PNP and the AFP were the usual suspects in human rights abuses.

But Bacalzo said programs, such as the EU–Philippines Justice Support Program, which provides technical assistance and training to PNP personnel, were doing much to improve the PNP’s human rights record.

“Through our programs, particularly our transformation program, we are laying down the foundations. I can now say the police now are more HR-aware. They are now familiar with the procedures,” Bacalzo said.

De Lima said the human rights record of the Philippines has improved, disputing a report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch that said none of the 10 cases it studied had progressed into prosecution.

Before President Aquino assumed office, De Lima said, there were 178 extra-legal killings, out of which there were eight convictions, 59 undergoing trial, 64 dismissed, and 44 archived for lack of evidence.

On the other hand, since Aquino started his term in June 2010, De Lima claimed that 27 extra-judicial killings have been reported, but that only 10-12 of them have been confirmed.

“Suspects have been identified in eight cases, and five are undergoing trial while others are at the investigation stage…. There has been movement,” De Lima said.

The secretary said “some but not all of these cases” involved agents of the PNP and the AFP.

De Lima said the target is “more convictions” of suspects accused of perpetrating human rights abuses, especially extra-legal killings. She said it usually takes the government “one to two” years to convict suspects, of which the preliminary investigation takes six to 12 months.

De Lima noted disparities in the statistics of the government on extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances, and those from non-governmental organizations such as Karapatan.

“It is necessary to define guidelines and parameters of what qualifies as extra-judicial killings,” she said. Extra-judicial killings refer to the killings of political and social dissidents and other personalities by state agents.

EU Ambassador Guy Ledoux said “a lot more needs to be done” by the government on human rights, though he acknowledged efforts toward this end.