PNP, CHR set probe of MPD-style ‘chain gang’
Authorities will look into the Manila Police District’s (MPD) use of chains and padlocks instead of handcuffs to restrain some of its detainees.
The Philippine National Police, Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) announced separately yesterday that they would be looking into the circumstances behind a photo in a tabloid which has gone viral.
The photo showed four men held together with a chain around their wrists and secured by several padlocks.
The four were reportedly being transferred from the MPD Integrated Jail to the Manila City Jail when a photographer of the tabloid Hataw took their picture.
“One of the jailers said he did that because [the detainees] were dangerous criminals. He did it to protect civilians who may be harmed if they were able to escape,” PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr. said.
The detainees were allegedly being held on nonbailable offenses such as murder and human trafficking.
“The jailer didn’t intend to violate the rights of the detainees. His objective was to restrain them,” Cerbo said although he clarified that the PNP was “not justifying” the use of chains on prisoners.
“There’s a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the use of joint shackles when moving dangerous inmates. But for this case, we’ll see if that SOP was violated,” Cerbo added.
Asked if the MPD was possibly lacking handcuffs, he said that these were “standard issue” for all police personnel.
According to him, the police escorts and the jailer can be held liable for misconduct if it is proven that their use of chains and padlocks was uncalled for.
Sought for comment, the CHR said that the practice of chaining detainees together was wrong.
“The use of chains, [normally] for securing dogs or gates, is an undignified treatment of detainees. They’re subjected to humiliation,” CHR spokesperson Marc Titus Cebreros said in a phone interview.
“We’ve already sent a team to the MPD to verify what happened. But according to the Revised Penal Code, a public official who overdoes the performance of his function with respect to prisoners is guilty of maltreatment,” he warned.
NCRPO head Director Carmelo Valmoria ordered the administrative relief of the jail warden pending the probe.
Valmora said the investigation, to be headed by MPD director Chief Supt. Rolando Nana, would center on whether any SOP was violated when chains instead of handcuffs were used on the inmates. With Kristine Felisse Mangunay
