By Jeffrey Damicog
A human rights group expressed concerns that the Philippine National Police (PNP) might plant pieces of evidence against protesters at the State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Karapatan Secretary-General Cristina Palabay
(Tinay Palabay FACEBOOK / MANILA BULLETIN)
Because of this, Karapatan on Monday (July 22) expressed opposition to the decision of the PNP to conduct random inspections of the belongings of protesters.
“The Philippine National Police has earlier announced that it will conduct random inspections of protesters’ belongings, which is not only a scare tactic and a harassment scheme, but will also render protesters vulnerable to the PNP’s expertise of planting evidence and making dubious claims and charges,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said in a statement.
“We do not trust the PNP, with its bloody record in the country’s anti-narcotics and counterinsurgency campaigns. If anyone is looking for the instigators of violence, then the men in uniform are the foremost violators in this country,” she added.