The recent killings involving policemen show a pattern of "abusive and murderous behavior" of law enforcers in the country, former vice president Jejormar "Jojo" Binay said on Wednesday (June 2).
Binay said that the killings involving policemen are not isolated cases as claimed by the government.
"Far from being an isolated case, the recent killing of a grandmother in Quezon City and the killing of a policeman by a fellow policeman, of a mother and son in Tarlac, of a boy with special needs in Valenzuela, of a retired soldier in Quezon City, of 17-year old Kian de los Santos in Caloocan, and other atrocious acts show a pattern of abusive and even murderous behavior among some members of the police force. This behavior has of late been more brazen," he said in a statement.
The former vice president said the outrage directed at the entire police force may be unfair to the other men and women of the Philippine National Police (PNP) who conduct themselves in a professional manner.
"But given the mandate imposed on it by the Constitution and the trust extended by society, it is only proper that the PNP is held to a higher standard. It is expected for the PNP to be more rigorous in its screening process," he said.
According to Binay, the PNP should be more vigilant in monitoring and guiding the conduct of the entire police force, adding that it must also be firm in dealing with delinquent and murderous policemen.
"This is the challenge facing the new PNP chief. His tenure may be short, but I hope he can initiate the much-needed and long-delayed process of cleansing the ranks and reforming the PNP," he said.
Binay noted that policemen are not ordinary government workers as they are tasked to ensure order and respect for the law, and protect law-abiding citizens from criminals.
"That’s the reason they are issued guns. Those guns are supposed to be used against criminal elements. Ang baril ay hindi dapat ginagamit upang pumatay ng inosenteng mamamayan. Dapat ang mga kriminal ang takot sa pulis, hindi ang taumbayan (Guns should not be used to kill innocent citizens. Policemen should be feared by criminals, not by the public)."
On June 1, following the death of a woman in Quezon City at the hands of a policeman, the hashtag #PulisAngTerorista topped Philippine Twitter trends. Many netizens expressed their dismay to the PNP following their involvement in the killings of defenseless civilians.
In 2018, Caloocan City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 125 found Police Officer 3 Arnel Oares, Police Officer 1 Jeremias Pereda, and Police Officer 1 Jerwin Cruz guilty of murdering Delos Santos.
The three policemen were sentenced to reclusion perpetua, or imprisonment for 20 to 40 years, sans eligibility for parole.