Rep. Biazon pushes Body Cam bill anew to discourage police abuse

Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

A former customs commissioner now a congressman on Tuesday renewed his call to pass his bill installing body cameras on police officers to serve as “neutral eyewitnesses” in cases of police abuses.

In a statement, Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon urged his colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass his House Bill 2741 or the “Body Cam Bill.”

He renewed his call as the police faced mounting protests and outrage over the Caloocan police’s killing of 17-year-old Grade 11 student Kian delos Santos, who was dragged by plainclothes policemen according to a CCTV footage, belying police claims that the teenager fired back during an anti-drugs operation.

READ: Kian autopsy points to ‘intentional killing’

“As early as August 2016, I had proposed a measure to provide this documentation by means of body worn cameras for policemen, as implemented by police forces in other countries. I filed House Bill No. 2741 known as the Body Cam Bill, which mandates the use of body-worn cameras by police and other law enforcement personnel during operations,” Biazon said.

“To avoid this kind of tug of war for truth between the public and the police, to prove beyond doubt how police operations are conducted and to help prevent or prosecute such abuse or extra judicial killings, a means to document police action is necessary,” he added.

Biazon said body cameras would serve as “neutral eyewitnesses” to prevent the filing of trumped up charges against the police, on one hand, and police abuses that culminate to extrajudicial killings, on the other.

“Having video recordings of operations will serve the interests both of policemen and the public they come into contact with. Many policemen have also been victims of trumped up charges of abuse against them, just as members of the public have been victims of abusive law enforcers. Body cams serve as neutral eyewitnesses that will tell what actually transpired,” Biazon said.

READ: Autopsy shows Kian died of 3 gunshot wounds

Biazon said that there should not be a budget problem in the implementation of his bill, with the P1 billion funding in the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) proposed 2018 budget to finance its brutal anti-illegal drugs operation.

He added that with the installation of body cameras on police officers, the PNP’s “Oplan Double Barrel” would have a semblance of accountability.

“With the PNP asking in their 2018 budget proposal for almost P1 billion to fund their Tokhang Part 2, there shouldn’t be a problem in the funding for the body cams,” Biazon said.

“If the PNP will ask for more funds to support their anti-drug campaign, there should be a mechanism of accountability for their operations. Use of body cams is one of those mechanisms. Any appropriation for Tokhang Part 2 should include funds for body cams,” he added.

Biazon expressed hope Kian’s death that sparked public outrage would also compel his fellow lawmakers to support his proposed measure, so that Kian would not have died in vain.

“I call on my fellow legislators from both Chambers to support this bill and source its funding in the 2018 budget proposal of the PNP. With the public sentiment on the killing of Kian, this is one action that lawmakers can do to prevent or prosecute perpetrators of unwarranted deaths in the future. With its passage, Kian will not have died in vain,” Biazon said.

Kian has become the face of the administration’s brutal narcotics crackdown which has claimed thousands of lives, drawing condemnation from international and rights groups. JPV

READ: Duterte vows to punish cops in Kian killing if proven guilty