Bagong Henerasyon Partylist Representative Bernadette Herrera-Dy. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
A lawmaker has warned Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Ronald Dela Rosa against applying the PNP chief’s “liking for hazing” to civilians.
While Bagong Henerasyon party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy said she is “aware of the seeming value of hazing in the off-the-books training regimen at police and military academies apparently meant to keep troops from revealing secrets to enemy combatants,” she said she is hoping Dela Rosa “will not apply to civilians his liking for hazing.”
Herrera-Dy is one of the authors of the proposed Anti-Hazing Law that the lower House passed on third and final reading last January.
READ: House OKs tougher rules vs hazing
In a press briefing on Monday, Dela Rosa admitted that hazing has been part of the culture in the PNP Academy (PNPA). This, he said, made him disciplined and tough.
“Again, hindi ko jinujustify yung hazing porke dinaanan ko na ‘yan, natapos ako ng four years na bugbugan sa academy… (I am not justifying hazing even though I went through hazing, I finished four years of beatings in the academy),” he said.
“Coming from me, I must tell you, yung lahat ng pinagdaanan ko na paghihirap, diyan ako naging disiplanado at (kaya) ako naging ganito ngayon… (All of the hardships I have gone through, it made me a disciplined man like what I am today) Sometimes, I’m very tough and sometimes I’m very soft, because of the training,” he added.
The congresswoman also called on the police and military, to “faithfully and effectively implement” the Anti-Hazing Bill once it becomes a law, “despite their appreciation of how hazing mattered in their careers.”
“Congress worked long and hard on the new Anti-Hazing Law. It took the hazing death of UST student Horacio ‘Atio’ Castillo for this legislative measure to gain public support and momentum at the House and Senate,” she said.
“We do not want any more hazing deaths and injuries to any of our children, teenagers, and young adults,” she added. /jpv
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