Senator Imee Marcos warned on Saturday, June 5, that the recent killing of a 52-year-old woman by a police officer in Quezon City might happen again if the existing law requiring psychiatric, psychological, drug and physical tests on police personnel remains "weak".
In a statement, Marcos said the Republic Act No. 8551 reforming the Philippine National Police (PNP) “continued to be too loosely worded” on the conduct of such tests for policemen.
“Allowing crazy cops to be on the loose," Marcos said.
“The existing law specifies no schedule and only calls for a regular and random conduct of psychological tests. These should be made an annual requirement that each and every personnel of the PNP must undergo,” she reiterated.
“Policing is one of the highest stress jobs, and neuropsych testing and debriefing following violent operations are crucial. Otherwise, as we have seen repeatedly, innocent victims, the community and other innocent policemen pay the price,” she added.
Last January, Marcos filed Senate Bill No. 2005 to amend the law after Police Master Sergeant Joel Nuezca shot dead a mother and a son during an altercation in Tarlac province last December.
Like Nuezca, Master Sergeant Hensie Zinampan was caught in video shooting Lilibeth Valdez, his neighbor, last Monday, May 31. Zinampan was allegedly drunk.
"This is the second time that a police master sergeant has murdered an innocent civilian. The cases of Nuezca and, more recently, Zinampan may be called isolated cases, but do we wait for such cases to become more commonplace?” Marcos asked.
Meanwhile, Marcos called on PNP chief General Guillermo Eleazar to also investigate Zinampan’s immediate superior, which R.A. 8551 states “should be an automatic process” to determine lapses in administration or supervision.
“The strong padrino and frat system in the PNP may continue to take in mentally imbalanced recruits and keep the proteges of higher-ranked officers off the hook,” Marcos raised.