Saturday, July 3, 2021

SC vows ‘balanced’ rules on PNP use of body cameras. Inquirer Newsletter July 4, 2021

BROUGHT TO SAFETY A child is carried on board a vehicle waiting to transport residents out of Barangay Buso-Buso in the town of Laurel, Batangas province, on Saturday, as members of the Philippine National Police, the Coast Guard and the Air Force help in evacuation efforts. Taal Volcano remained on alert level 3 following its phreatomagmatic eruption on Thursday. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

World

Indonesia in COVID grip: Troops move in

Thousands of soldiers and police fan out in Indonesia’s Java and Bali islands to enforce new virus curbs as the nation battles an unprecedented wave of infections.

News

3 more ‘corrupt’ agencies on his list

Before flying off to another fight for which he has gained fame, Sen. Manny Pacquiao, the new corruption fighter in the Senate, names three more agencies hit by irregularities.

Newsletter / Join us

Has this been forwarded by a friend? Subscribe now to the Philippine Daily Inquirer Newsletter and get your latest news and important updates on COVID-19.

Shop here

Banner Story

SC vows ‘balanced’ rules on PNP use of body cameras

By Marlon Ramos and Dexter Cabalza

The Supreme Court assured the Philippine National Police that the special rules mandating the use of body-worn cameras by police officers would not compromise their duties as law enforcers tasked with implementing orders by the courts.

Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo told PNP chief Guillermo Eleazar that other members of the high tribunal had already presented their proposals and comments on the draft rules submitted by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen.

“This was to strike a delicate balance between protecting an individual’s constitutional rights on arrest, search and seizure, and ensuring the unhampered operational requirements of law enforcers in the execution of laws,” Gesmundo said during a meeting on Friday with Eleazar and other top PNP officials who paid a courtesy call on the Chief Justice.

He said the rules would be “out soon.”

The high court last month announced that it would require officers to wear cameras following the deaths of political activists in allegedly questionable circumstances when the police tried to serve search and arrest warrants against them.

‘Rights, responsibilities’

The rules on the use of police cameras would accompany broader policies to protect judges and lawyers against harassment and violent attacks.

It said the guidelines on body-worn cameras would also spell out the requirements for judges in granting warrants, which the PNP personnel should also observe.

“We assure you that the court will do its part in ensuring that the ... rights guaranteed under the Constitution, as well as your responsibilities and duties as law enforcers, are properly considered and balanced,” Gesmundo told the PNP officials.

“We try to achieve that balance so that the end goal is we do not disregard the constitutional rights of people, but at the same time, the law enforcers are also given adequate leeway to effectively discharge your functions. That’s the main goal of this special rule that we are coming out,” he said.

Leonen, Associate Justices Rodil Zalameda, Samuel Gaerlan and Jhosep Lopez, Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez and Supreme Court spokesperson Brian Keith Hosaka, joined the Chief Justice in the meeting. Associate Justice Rosmari Carandang took part through videoconference.

Eleazar was accompanied by Police Maj. Gen. Arnel Escobal of the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management, Police Brig. Gen. Ferdinand Fuentes of the Police Security and Protection Group and Police Brig. Gen. Albert Ferro of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Pushed after Kian slay

The use of the body cameras was proposed early in the Duterte administration in the wake of the thousands killed in the war on drugs where suspects had been gunned down as they allegedly fought against arresting officers.

Following the killing of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos in Caloocan City in August 2017, senators and congressmen filed separate bills to require law enforcers to use body-worn cameras in police operations.

In November 2018, three officers were convicted of murdering the teenager, whom they had falsely tagged as a drug suspect who allegedly fought back (“nanlaban”).

Congress allocated P334 million in the PNP’s 2018 budget to purchase cameras. In December 2019 the PNP awarded a P289-million contract to EVI Distribution, a company based in San Juan City, to provide around 2,600 body-worn cameras.

After a long delay, in February this year, more than 100 officers under the National Capital Region Police Office were trained on the use of the cameras that the PNP purchased in 2019.

For transparency

The cameras are intended to help ensure transparency and accountability in police operations, particularly when the conduct and legality of certain raids, arrests or other anticrime activities are called into question.

The PNP is currently following the guidelines spelled out in a January 2019 memorandum signed by former PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa, who is now a senator.

When to use them

The memorandum said: “When available, the use of body camera and other gadgets to record all anti-illegal drug operations is encouraged.”

Pending the final guidelines, Eleazar ordered police commanders to use the body-worn cameras “as they see fit.”

According to the memo, the cameras will be used in the following: anti-illegal drug operations, except where operatives act as poser buyers; serving search and arrest warrants; hostage rescue operations; high-risk checkpoint operations; security operations during the implementation of orders and decisions of courts, and quasi-judicial and administrative bodies; and security coverage during major events, including the upcoming State of the Nation Address.

Only 171 PNP stations around the country have cameras for their personnel and only 623 officers of the 220,000-strong force had been trained to use them.

Each of these 171 stations received 16 cameras but only four of them are equipped with SIM cards that allow the officers to show live video recordings.

During a demonstration on June 4, Eleazar and other PNP officers at Camp Crame watched on livestream the arrest of a real murder suspect. —WITH A REPORT FROM ANA ROA OF INQUIRER RESEARCH

Editorial

The deadly Delta variant

The Delta variant has caused about 10 percent of new COVID-19 infections in the US as well as new outbreaks in the United Kingdom and Australia. Indonesia reported that its latest surge of infections has accelerated much faster than what was seen early this year, with the country’s Red Cross warning that the Delta variant is pushing it 'closer to the edge of a COVID-19 catastrophe.' What about the Philippines, where not even five percent of the population has been vaccinated since the government rolled out the vaccination program in March? No local case of the Delta variant reported—so far. But, as Inquirer columnist Gideon Lasco wrote last Friday, 'our limited genomic surveillance capabilities mean that we cannot be too sure.'

Read full story: opinion.inquirer.net