The Philippine National Police (PNP) denied on Friday, May 13, that it conducted profiling of the the students and other rallyists who went to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) main office in Manila to protest the alleged irregularities in the May 9 elections.
In a statement, PNP chief information officer Brig. Gen. Roderick Augustus Alba said there was no instruction to the police commanders and the policemen on the ground to do the profiling of protesters.
“The main duty of the PNP personnel deployed in these protest rallies is to ensure that the entire activity is peaceful and will not resort to violence or any untoward incident,” said Alba.
“Part of the regular activity of the PNP during their deployment in any gathering, is to prepare a situationer report which includes the estimate number of participants and the over-all assessment of the entire activity as this will serve as reference in planning for deployment in similar events,” he added.
Hundreds of students and other individuals trooped to Comelec main office on May 10 and demanded explanation from the poll body on the reported malfunctioning vote-counting machines.
Some of the protesters alleged that they were profiled, the same allegation that was thrown at the police at the amid the red-tagging allegations in the past few years.
“We assure everyone that the PNP will impose maximum tolerance in these protest rallies,” said Alba.
“We respect the people’s right to voice out their opinions in assemblies or gatherings but we will truly appreciate if it will be done in a peaceful manner,” he added.