Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa said the cops involved in the killing of 17-year old Jemboy Baltazar should be charged criminally and administratively.
Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa (Senate PRIB Photo)
At the same time, Dela Rosa said the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine National Training Institute (PNTI), which is in charge of the training of policemen, should review their curriculum or program of instruction when it comes to police operational procedure.
Dela Rosa also slammed the manner by which the six Navotas cops who were involved had killed the minor who dove into the water out of fear when he and a friend were cornered by the policemen and were mistaken to be the suspects in their manhunt operation.
“Dahil basic ‘yan eh. Basic ‘yan. Alam mong tumalon, alam mong may tumalon na bata dun sa tubig, bakit barilin mo yung tubig? ‘Di ba? (That’s basic. You know he jumped off and into the water, why are you going to shoot the waterRight?) That’s basic.
“Ang maganda kapag akala i-rescue mo yung bata, i-rescue mo yung bata na tumalon sa tubig kung hindi mo na makita. Bakit mo paputukan mo yung tubig? (What they should have done was to rescue the boy, rescue the boy who jumped into the water and you can’t see him. So why will you shoot at the water)?” he pointed out.
In cases like this, the senator said the first consideration should be to arrest the suspect and not kill him.
“Nadisgrasya yung inosenteng bata na tumakbo, tumalon lang dahil natakot, na-rattle yung bata, tumakbo (They killed an innocent child who jumped out of fear. he was rattled),” he pointed out.
Asked if he will call for a Senate probe into the incident, the senator said he will first look into the developments within the PNP.
“Titingnan ko yung takbo ng aksyon ng PNP. Titingnan ko muna kung anong magiging aksyon nila (I will first look into the actions of the PNP. I will check what would be their actions),” he said.
“Kung hindi ako (If I’m not) satisfied, I will conduct hearing,” he added.
“Let’s give them time to correct themselves. Kung makita natin na hindi tayo satisfied sa ginagawa nilang (If we are not satisfied with their) corrective efforts, then that’s the time siguro na magpatawag tayo para hindi na maulit ito (to call for a hearing so this won’t happen again),” Dela Rosa said.