Sotto proposes a refresher course for reorientation of PNP officers
November 18, 2020 01:52 PM
Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III called for a training program that will regularly orient policemen on their duties and rights.
“The reason I’m looking for some kind of refresher course or training program for personnel for review is I find that in the video, there were protocols that should have been followed."
Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III said that Philippine National Police (PNP) officers need a refresher course on their protocols in order to ensure their safety on the job.
Sotto said policemen in the Philippines are too polite when talking to suspected criminals and law violators, which is why he pushed for a program to further educate policemen during the DILG budget deliberations.
“Dito sa atin, sumosobra ang bait natin kung minsan. Okay ‘yong magalang, okay ‘yong mabait ka, pero kung kriminal na kasuap mo, hindi pwedeng mabait (Here in our country, police are too nice sometimes. It's okay to be polite, it's okay to be nice, but if you're talking to a criminal, you can't be nice)," said Sotto.
Shootout in Cavite
The Senate President's observation was based on the recent police shootout in Cavite last November 6, where Police Chief Master Sgt. Julius Ancalas, a Highway Patrol Group (HPG) officer, was killed.
The HPG had stopped a car without a license plate nor a conduction sticker. In a video that went viral, an HPG officer was seen talking to the driver in a very calm manner. Unfortunately, the conversation quickly heated up which then led to a violent shootout. The video also showed the bloodied body of Sgt Ancalas, as well as the car as it fled the scene.
Methusael Cebrian, the passenger who had initiated the gunfire, was also killed.
PNP "refresher course"
Upon examining the P191-billion proposed 2021 budget of the PNP, Sotto described the need for a PNP training program.
“The reason I’m looking for some kind of refresher course or training program for personnel for review is I find that in the video, there were protocols that should have been followed," explained Sotto, who thinks that the country's policemen are too nice.
“I understand the point na magalang ‘yong mga pulis natin. [It's] correct especially kung traffic stop lang or violation, okay naman ‘yong magalang."
(I understand that they're polite. It's correct, especially if it's a mere traffic stop or violation, being respectful is okay.)
But since the men in the car were already refusing to cooperate with the police, Sotto said the two suspects should have already gotten arrested.
“Walang plate number, walang conduction sticker, ayaw magbigay ng lisensya, ayaw magbigay ng ID, dapat arestado antimano (No plate number, no conduction sticker, they didn't want to give a license nor an I.D., they should have arrested them immediately)... Why did they have to wait for that guy to come out with gun blazing and armed to the teeth?” Sotto stressed.
“Dapat ino-orient ang police natin lagi. Oo, magalang tayo. Pag dating sa you are serving the law, dapat medyo forceful ka (We always need to orient our policemen. Yes, we're respectful, but when it comes to enforcing laws, you need to be more stern.)"
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESTfZiefcdQ&has_verified=1&bpctr=1605616646
