“To which should we give more protection, the human rights of hardened criminals or that of good citizens?”
This was how Mayor Alfredo Lim defended the Manila policemen who are now in hot water following the death of a barangay watchman tagged in the Nov. 12 robbery-related killing of three women in Sta. Cruz, Manila.
According to authorities, Nestor Delizalde Jr.—the suspect in the killing of bank executive Evelyn Tan, her mother Teresa and their housemaid Cristina Bartolay—grabbed the gun of one of his escorts and in the ensuing scuffle, shot himself by accident on the forehead.
It was the fourth gun-grabbing incident this year between policemen and arrested suspects that have resulted in the latter’s death.
“Just like all laws, human rights should also apply to all. If they apply to suspects, more so to the victims,” Lim said in a statement in reaction to doubts raised by Human Rights Chair Loretta Rosales over the circumstances surrounding Delizalde’s death.
“That suspect is a dangerous person. He killed three women by slitting their throats. What is it to him if he kills a fourth or fifth victim?” said Lim who earned the moniker “Dirty Harry” for his controversial crime-fighting methods as the Manila police chief.
In a television interview, Rosales had called on Lim to retrain the city’s police force. She said that either the police were incompetent or they didn’t respect the rights of the accused.