A major police operation, which later turned out to be the rescue of a kidnapped student of an exclusive school in Taguig City, was the reason why a convoy of a ranking police official entered the EDSA Busway on Tuesday night, Feb. 25.
While he neither confirmed nor denied that it was his convoy, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil said there was an emergency meeting of top police officials with Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla before the convoy was stopped at the EDSA Busway.
“There’s an emergency meeting and there’s this issue, which the SILG (Remulla) will announce, regarding an accomplishment last night and which required the presence of higher ups to attend the close door meeting on the operation last night,” said Marbil in an interview over dzBB.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Feb. 26, Remulla confirmed the rescue of an exclusive school student and said the boy was recovered after a pursuit operation by the police in Parañaque City on Tuesday night.
The PNP was bashed on social media on Tuesday night over the report that a ranking police official violated the strict rule of the use of EDSA Busway.
In a report by the Special Action and Intelligence Committee for Transportation (SAICT), it said its personnel apprehended a convoy composed of Highway Patrol Group (HPG) motorcycles and two sports utility vehicles that were passing the northbound lane of EDSA busway in Ortigas area.
In a video, one of the cops was quoted saying that they were with the Chief PNP.
In the interview, Marbil did not dispute the contention of the SAICT personnel that they are not allowed to use the EDSA Busway.
“We have to respect them, like us, they are just doing their job,” said Marbil.
And even before the incident, Marbil said he already instructed his men that would enter the EDSA Busway in cases of emergency not to argue with the SAICT personnel and just accept the ticket.
‘That’s foul’
While Marbil stressed the need to understand that the SAICT personnel are just doing their job in keeping the EDSA Busway off-limits to unauthorized vehicles, he was apparently displeased by the unauthorized release of the license plate of the vehicle in the police convoy.
“The license plate was shown to the public and they should not do that,” said Marbil.
He was apparently referring to the video and the written report which was shown on news and social media.
For Marbil, doing so is a form of unnecessary humiliation.
“We understand that it is their discretion to determine if there is a violation… let’s come up with a protocol that they should not publicly release the plate number,” said Marbil.
‘Who’s exempted?’
Based on the letter signed by former Department of Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista in response to the clarification sought by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on the use of EDSA Busway, the following are the authorized vehicles to use the carousel:
Based on the letter, Bautista said only these vehicles are authorized to use the EDSA Bus Lane:
1. LTFRB-authorized Buses for the EDSA Busway Route, including bases with Special Permits and/or franchises to operate on the EDSA Busway Route;
2. On-duty Ambulances, Fire tracks, and Philippine National Police vehicles, and;
3. Service vehicles performing their duties for the EDSA Busway Project, including but not limited to construction, security, janitorial, and maintenance services within the EDSA Busway.
In the same letter, Bautista also approved the recommendation to exempt the following from strict use of EDSA Busway:
1. President of the Philippines
2. Vice President of the Philippines
3. Senate President
4. Speaker of the House of Representatives
5. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
‘Emergency cases’
Marbil said that there are instances that provide exemption from the strict use of EDSA Busway, and that the emergency meeting concerning a successful police operation that requires the attendance of the PNP top brass is included.
He said the Department of Transportation is aware of that through a memorandum.
“There’s a memo that the PNP can use the busway in case of emergency,” said Marbil.
But such agreement is something that was not totally relayed to the ground, especially to the SAICT personnel, and according to Marbil, this is the reason why he instructed his men not to argue with them in cases that they need to use the EDSA Busway.
“They should not argue with them because they are just doing their job and that they should just accept the (violation) ticket. Anyway, there’s an arbitration and it is there that the reasons should be explained,” said Marbil.