DILG reminder: You can also report abusive cops to local PLEBs

DILG officer-in-charge Catalino Cuy with President Rodrigo Duterte during a Cabinet meeting in November 2016. (File photo from the Presidential Photographers Division)

People can report police abuses to the People’s Law Enforcement Board (PLEB) in their areas, including cops deployed in the war on drugs, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Wednesday.

“Early on, the President has emphasized that, while he supports the police, he will not tolerate rogue policemen,” said DILG officer-in-charge Catalino Cuy.

“If anyone is hesitant to report abuses to police authorities, they can instead complain to the PLEB which is a civilian agency located in every local government unit in the country,” he said.

Cuy said the establishment of a PLEB in every city and municipality in the country is mandated by the DILG Act of 1990 (Republic Act 6975).

Cuy said that the PLEB has the authority to investigate and adjudicate administrative charges against policemen and subsequently impose penalties, including suspension, demotion, or even dismissal, on erring policemen.

He pointed out that the PLEB can administer oaths, summon witnesses and issue subpoenas for documents and records pertinent to a complaint and is composed of a city or municipal councilor, a village chief, and three private individuals who are respected in their communities.

With the restoration of its role in the war on narcotics, Chief Supt. Dionardo Carlos, PNP spokesperson, said the organization would embark on a vigorous internal cleansing and return at “full speed but [with] extreme caution.”

Body cameras, he pointed out, would be required for every anti-illegal drug operative to ensure transparency in the drug war and “lessen casualties.”

According to Carlos, the National Oversight Committee on Illegal Drugs, chaired by PNP deputy chief for operations Deputy Director General Fernando Mendez Jr., is a command memorandum circular (CMC) to serve as a guideline for the PNP’s return to the drug war.

“The PNP chief wants to take all necessary precautionary measures to ensure that [the campaign] will be less bloody, that we will arrest suspects [and] get them alive.”

He also stressed that only police anti-illegal drug units, whose members will be subjected to a regular vetting process, are authorized to conduct operations in the drug war.

With the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency remaining at the helm of the war on narcotics, Carlos said the PNP would act as force multipliers and actively support the lead agency’s operations. /pdi /atm