Policemen are taught to be calm whenever they are being provoked. This explains why two cops exercised restraint while they are being berated by a National Police Commission official as seen in a recent viral video.
While it was every policeman’s duty to exercise maximum tolerance in all situations, Rev. Fr. Supt. Lucio Rosaroso Jr. of the Philippine National Police’s Chaplain Service said they also taught law enforcers to keep calm and manage their stress when dealing with provocateurs.
In a press briefing on Thursday, the Chaplain Service said it conducted seminars for uniformed personnel, including psycho-spiritual approach on stress management, and programs that taught cops the value of silence.
Two police officers assigned in Bacoor, Cavite, were lauded by netizens for their restraint while they were being lambasted by Napolcom administration division acting chief Ana Marie Paglinawan.
Paglinawan, who was relieved from her post after the incident, had complained that the cops were “harassing” her nephew in Barangay (village) Panapaan VII.
“I believe there is wisdom in silence. If you could see, the two officers did not answer back … If we encounter fire, we should be the water to extinguish it,” said Rosaroso.
PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. Wilben Mayor said exercising maximum tolerance was one of the police’s main doctrines.
In the first place, Mayor said policemen, aside from being law enforcers, were “peace officers in totality.”
“We train our personnel to be patient and it’s part of the Chaplain Service programs that officers should be taught to balance their aggressiveness or assertiveness with patience,” said Mayor.
He said the foundation of policemen’s training in encountering provoking situations was the test of their stability under pressure.
Mayor added that the Bacoor cops could pursue charges of oral defamation against Paglinawan if they wanted to.
“It is in the option of the police to initiate a complaint on the concerned individual,” he said.
Paglinawan was also seen in the viral video cursing village official Mike Almanza, claiming the latter had no right to film her because she was an official. Julliane Love de Jesus/RC
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