Rodaliza Baltazar, the mother of minor Jemboy Baltazar, turns emotional as she looks at her son’s dead body during his funeral in Barangay Kaunlaran, Navotas City on August 11, 2023. — PHILIPPINE STAR/ERNIE PENAREDONDO

THE PHILIPPINE Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Monday said the entire police force should be retrained after Navotas City cops shot and killed a 17-year-old boy in a supposed case of mistaken identity.

CHR Chairman Richard P. Palpal-latoc welcomed the Northern Police District’s announcement of a refresher course for police, but said this should be done nationwide.

“It should not be limited to that station,” he said in Filipino. “It should be for the entire police force. In fact, they are being trained now on human rights.”

Meanwhile, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said the national police chief should be able to punish the erring cops.

The police chief should have the freedom to hold erring policemen accountable for misconduct, Interior Secretary Benjamin C. Abalos, Jr. told an online news briefing.

“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 in mixed English and Filipino. “One thing is certain: we need to update these police proceedings.”

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has implemented the three-strike rule for erring police officers during drug and gambling raids, Mr. Abalos said.

He said the DILG would consult with the National Police Commission about revising the three-strike policy.

Six Navotas policemen shot and killed Jerhode Baltazar on Aug. 2 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.

National Capital Region Police Office Director Brigadier General Jose Melencio C. Nartatez, Jr. told the same briefing the six cops have been detained pending investigation. The Navotas City prosecutor has filed homicide complaints against the policemen.

Mr. Abalos said his agency would coordinate with the Department of Justice to determine additional criminal and administrative complaints that could be filed against the law enforcers.
Mr. Abalos on Aug. 11 said his agency and the Philippine National Police would review standard law enforcement procedures after the teen’s killing.

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.

The inter-agency committee formed 15 teams in 2021 that investigated extralegal killings and human rights violations in connection with the government’s anti-illegal drug campaign. The task force investigated at least 17,000 policemen.

CHR has said the government of ex-President Rodrigo R. Duterte had encouraged a culture of impunity by hindering independent probes and failing to prosecute erring cops.

The government estimates that at least 6,117 suspected drug dealers were killed in police operations. Human rights groups say as many as 30,000 suspects died. — John Victor D. Ordoñez

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