The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Thursday, May 6, called on incoming Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar to put and end to the “culture of impunity” in the country.
In a statement, the fisherfolk group said Eleazar “is facing serious challenges in regards to refurbishing the publicly-disdained institution.”
Moreover, the group challenged the incoming PNP chief “to take a 180-degree turn on his predecessor’s policies especially concerning police operations that violate human rights.”
“Mr. Eleazar must once and for all put an end to the culture of impunity, disregard on the rule of law, and state-sponsored violence such as the tokhang-style execution and illegal arrests of activists and suspected drug addicts,” Pamalakaya said.
“As gesture of goodwill, he must immediately abort all the standing questionable search and arrest warrants against activists that transcend from his predecessor,” the group added.
Pamalakaya also urged the next PNP chief to “repair the terrible damage that former police chief Debold Sinas has inflicted.”
“This could only be done when accountability is sought for the victims of dubious police operations that led to arbitrary arrests and detentions, grave human rights abuses, and extra-judicial killings,” it said.
President Duterte has appointed Eleazar as the new chief of the PNP, and will formally assume his post on Friday, May 7.
Sinas is set to retire on May 8, Saturday.