The Philippine National Police (PNP) could put in place human rights officers who will keep policemen in check, said Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Monday (Sept. 21).
(PCOO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
“Within the PNP stations, within the units dapat, just like in the armed forces, merong designated human rights officers (Just like in the armed forces, human rights officers could be designated in police stations and units),” Año said during an interview over CNN Philippines.
The secretary pointed this out in response to threats made by the Europe Parliament to revoke the Philippines’ trading privileges with the European Union due to alleged worsening human rights violations in the country including extrajudicial killings.
Año said he will talk with PNP chief Gen. Camilo Cascolan on the possibility of designating human rights officers.
“I will talk to the chief PNP maglagay tayo ng checks and balances (to place checks and balances),” he said.
Meanwhile, Año assured that the government does not condone human rights abuses.
“Rest assured that it has never been a policy of this government and the Philippine National Police to violate human rights much more judicial killings,” he stated.
“We will continue to remind and we will continue to prosecute anyone who violate those rules or violate human rights of our Filipino citizens,” he added.
The former AFP chief said that he continues to evaluate to PNP and has been continually reminding it against committing human rights violations.
“In fairness, based on the latest data, bumaba ang ating crime volume ng 47 percent (the crime volume decreased by 47 percent) if we will compare the same period last year,” he boasted.
With this, Año declared he does not believe allegations that killings rose during the pandemic.
“Hindi yan fact (That’s not fact).Those are allegations from critics, from the leftist groups, from human rights groups,” he said.
“We are checking those data and I really do not agree,” he added.