Senators want stricter screening of cops

By John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter

THE PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) should update its screening process for policemen after Navotas City cops shot and killed a 17-year-old boy in a supposed case of mistaken identity, senators said on Tuesday.

During the Senate Public Order hearing, Senator Rafael “Raffy” T. Tulfo called for the PNP to change its format for neuropsychiatric exams for law enforcers, claiming that the current format is not a good measure of a person’s criminal tendencies.

“Many get to pass the exam by just memorizing the answers from other people they know since it has been the same test ever since,” Mr. Tulfo said in Filipino.

“It happens again and again, which means that the screening does not work, and that is why there are a lot of rotten eggs in the police force,” he added.

Last Aug. 2, six Navotas policemen shot and killed Jerhode “Jemboy” Baltazar after he was mistaken for a suspect in a previous shooting incident. Navotas police chief Colonel Allan B. Umipig has called it a “lapse in judgment” on the part of his men.

Two of the policemen involved in the teenager’s killing were cited in contempt during the hearing for evading the lawmakers’ questions and giving inconsistent answers.

“What do you see your countrymen as — target practice?” Senator Ana “Risa” N. Hontiveros-Baraquel told the police officers involved in the shooting during the hearing. “Let us strive for a country where being poor does not paint a target on one’s back.”

Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin C. Abalos, Jr. said last week that his agency would consult with the National Police Commission about revising the three-strike policy for erring police officers.

“The three-strike policy is good, but we should have that elbow room for the national police chief to hold these officers, even commanding officers, accountable,” he said partly in Filipino. “One thing is certain: we need to update these police proceedings.”

Mr. Abalos cited the need for the national police chief to hold erring policemen accountable without delay.

Last month, the Department of Justice said it would revive an inter-agency task force that probed unlawful deaths in the Philippine government’s deadly war on drugs.