‘Misguided cadets’: Probers see ‘lack of supervision’ in PNPA mauling incident
The board of inquiry (BOI) tasked to investigate the mauling incident and alleged hazing video inside Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) bared that there were procedural lapses in the incident.
The BOI, created by Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC), said in a report that the nine cadets who mauled other upperclassmen were a “small group of misguided cadets,” who were “blindly followed by their underclass.”
The BOI report also bared that there was a “failure to effect arrest and cause inquest proceeding of the perpetrators,” and the PNPA “lack uniformed personnel to closely supervise other cadet activities.”
New inspectors who were mauled also have the tendency to accept the “harm” inflicted by the underclass, according to the report.
Security guards deployed in the Academy were prohibited to access the dormitories, it added.
In an interview, Dr. Romeo Magsalos, National Police College (NPC) director and chair of the BOI, confirmed that the nine cadets accused of mauling their upperclassmen were criminally charged before the Silang Police Station.
“According to the PNPA director, nine ay criminally charged out of 44 cadets na nakita sa (seen in the) video, ‘yung iba (the others made) lighter offense lang, short of dismissal,” Magsalos told reporters.
READ: 9 PNPA cadets in big trouble for mauling upperclassmen
The PPSC BOI had also recommended the following:
- All activities of the corps of cadets should be sanctioned by the duly constituted authorities of the PNPA and should be closely supervised by the Cadet Affairs Office (CAO). In no instance shall any “secret rituals” involving cadets be conducted;
- As a deterrence to misconduct, neglect and undesirable behavior, the PNPA should actively prosecute offenses amounting to criminal acts before the regular courts;
- To strengthen the esprit de corps among the cadets;
- Increase the capacity of the PNPA to closely monitor cadet activities; and
- Seek the intervention of the Secretary of the DlLG for the Implementation of the policy where deployment to training units under the PPSC is considered as a Table of Organization (TO) position.
Magsalos said the rest of the 44 cadets who were not criminally charged were “confined to their barracks” even during the Holy Week vacation. He added that the dismissal of other cadets would be up to the PNPA administration.
The official, who was also a PNPA graduate, denied that the Academy has a tradition of hazing.
“Wala (tradition of hazing). In the past merong kukuyugin ka ng after ng graduation, pero ida-dunk ka sa dunking pool, kikilitiin ka hanggang maubos hiniga mo saka ihahagis sa dunking pool,” he said.
(There’s no tradition of hazing. In the past, there were times when you were ganged up on after graduation, but only to dunk you in the dunking pool, or tickle you until you can’t breathe and then throw you in the dunking pool.)
In March 26, PNP Chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa confirmed the incident involving PNPA cadets who allegedly mauled their upperclassmen right after the latter’s graduation ceremonies in Camp Castañeda, Cavite province, on March 21.
He described what happened as a sort of sendoff “tradition” among police cadets that is not sanctioned by the PNPA management or their alumni.
“That kind of tradition is not good. It, sad to say, promotes a cycle of violence. If that tradition is not stopped — what they call “bawian” (payback) — that might end up happening every year,” Dela Rosa said. /je
