If Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. would have his way, he would have the "axe fall" on the officials in the Philippine National Police (PNP) who thought visiting journalists in their homes was a bright idea.
“Sa akin ay tanggalin na ‘yan, whoever is involved in that tanggalin na (For me, they should be removed, whoever is involved should be removed from the service)," Abante, chairman of the House Committee on Human Rights in the 19th Congress, said in a television interview Tuesday, Oct. 18.
"The thing is, mahilig ang PNP ng floating status eh (the PNP has been penchant for floating status). I think things should be done accordingly.... I believe the axe must fall on people that have ordered the what we may term as fiasco of the PNP,” he said.
It was earlier reported that a police officer in plainclothes visited the home of broadcast journalist JP Soriano.
The unannounced nature of the visit took several lawmakers aback, on top of the fact that the PNP appeared to know the personal details of the journalists.
The PNP leadership has since halted such home visits amid the criticisms it has received.
“Traumatic ‘yan eh (That's traumatic). Why would they do that?” Abante, a pastor, said of the incident.
“To me, it’s a human rights violation," the former deputy speaker stressed, adding that his committee will launch an investigation on it.
Abante urged the national police force to name the officials behind the journalist home visits and sack them.