The Supreme Court (SC) was asked on Tuesday, March 9, to direct trial court judges to compel law enforcement officers to wear body cameras when they serve search and seizure or arrest warrants.
The plea was aired by Evalyn G. Ursua, one of the lawyers in 37 petitions against the constitutionality of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 2020.
Ursua cited the case of nine activists who were killed last Sunday, March 7, during the service of search warrants by the police and the military in four provinces in Southern Luzon.
She said the claims of law enforcers that those who were killed fought back while law enforcers were serving warrants could have been documented if the lawmen were wearing body cameras.
She pointed out that the use of body cameras would assure that law enforcers would observe the proper protocol in serving warrants, be they search and seizure or arrest orders.
“If the Supreme Court would require that all those who would serve the search warrants would have body cameras, the police officers, the law enforcers, we would avoid those inaccurate stories. We would not just rely on the testimony of the law enforcers, there should be evidence,” Ursua stressed.
“There should be a presumption that if they do not use body cameras, automatically there is an assumption of irregularity,” on the part of the law enforcers, she added.
Last March 4, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) underscored the urgent need of law enforcement operatives for body and vehicle dashboard cameras to “assure transparency and accountability” in their operations.
CHR Spokesperson and lawyer Jacqueline Ann de Guia said the “misencounter” among agents of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Quezon City last Feb. 24 is a "wake-up call" for police officials to always carry body cameras when they go on field operations, while their patrol vehicles should always be equipped with dashboard cameras. Four persons died during the “misencounter.”
President Duterte has tasked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) as the sole agency to probe the incident.
"The use of body cams will help greatly increase police efforts to ensure transparency and accountability in its operations, particularly at the time when an increasing number of law enforcers are deployed to ensure compliance with community quarantine measure or when the conduct and legality of certain raids, arrests, or other anti-crime activities are called into question," De Guia said.
While the PNP has announced it will provide its men with body cameras, “we hope that in the coming months more body-worn cameras will be distributed to members of the police force beyond Metro Manila," she added.