Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa has floated the idea of subjecting military personnel in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), specifically the auxiliary members of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU), to a training on rules of engagement.

Dela Rosa, former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief and current chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Order, made the proposal amid the viral video of a CAFGU auxiliary member who fatally shot a man who allegedly ran amok as well as the latter’s father in Negros Occidental.

“Hindi niya alam ‘yung rules of engagement [of the PNP] kasi ang CAFGU ay under the military, ‘di ba? ‘Yung rules of engagement nila with confronting ‘yung mga lasing na mga nag-aamok, dapat alam niya (He doesn't know the rules of engagement [in the PNP] because CAFGU is under the military, right?" Dela Rosa, an alumnus of the Philippine Military Academy, said.

“Tanungin ko siguro ‘yung Armed Forces, particularly ‘yung Philippine Army unit handling the CAFGU kung pwede ba nilang isama sa training nila ‘yung rules and procedure pagdating sa confronting ‘yung mga amok, para ma-improve ‘yung kanilang response sa gano’ng klaseng sitwasyon. Hindi ‘yung baril ng baril lang kaagad. At tsaka ‘yung hindi dapat barilin, idadamay pa, binabaril pa. So dapat matuto sila (I will probably ask the Armed Forces, particularly the Philippine Army unit handling the CAFGU if they can add in their training the rules of procedure when it comes to confronting those who are running amok, so they can improve their response in that sort of situation),” he added.

Dela Rosa stressed the need to train CAFGU members on the rules of engagement as this particular unit of the AFP is deployed in different far-flung communities where police officers are not present.

The CAFGU auxiliary member who was involved in the incident reportedly claimed that he defended himself after the victims allegedly threatened him with a bolo—a large single-edged knife commonly used in Filipino households.

Citing his years of experience in the PNP, Dela Rosa explained that under the police operational procedure, the victims should have been given a warning shot before the CAFGU auxiliary member resorted to firing his gun on the supposed offenders.

“Dapat warning shot muna, ‘di ba? Baka mamaya matakot ‘yung nagdala ng bolo. Dapat hindi niya binaril kaagad. Kung tumuloy, eh dapat kung threatened na ‘yung kanyang sarili, binaril niya sa paa or limb or somewhere na ma-immobilize lang at hindi mamatay agad. So dapat gano’n ang ginawa niya (There should have been a warning shot first. So that the man carrying the bolo could be scared off. He shouldn't have immediately shot him. If the man persisted and he felt threatened, he could have shot his foot or limb to immobilize him and not to kill),” the former top cop said.

For Dela Rosa, there is no justification for the subsequent shooting of the man's father.

“Ang ‘di niya ma-justify doon ‘yung pagbaril niya doon sa tatay na lumapit lang ‘yung tatay, wala namang threat, wala namang kutsilyo ang tatay, ‘di ba? Bakit niya pa pinatay ‘yung tatay, dinamay pa niya? ‘Yun ang talagang unjustified (What he cannot justify there is shooting the father since there's no threat, the father has no knife, right? Why did he kill him too? That's really unjustified),” he said.