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Friday, January 26, 2007
Intel officer says Capitol siege a necessary evil
By Nelson C. Robles and Lory Ann B. Bilbao
ILOILO CITY -- An intelligence officer has justified the action taken by policemen during the siege at the Provincial Capitol last January 17 as senators investigating the incident described the justification of top officials in the region as "pure alibi."
Western Visayas Intelligence Director Cornelio T. Defensor stood by his men by justifying their act of the recent siege at the Provincial Capitol amid the negative reactions from the general public and from various media entities.
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It was an order from higher authority and could not help but to follow lest they will be charged dereliction of duty.
"My men have not committed a single fault contrary to what the public perceives and the pronouncement of some members of the media," said Defensor.
He explained that breaking the glass panel was necessary because the entrance doors were lacked and a lot of employees were trapped inside. "Remember what happened to the Ultra stampede...we want to avoid the same incident, so it was just proper to break the doors to give way to those trapped inside."
He said aiming an armalite to a civilian was a normal reaction of a policeman. "Cops are trained this way. They have to be alert to defend themselves at all times."
On the act of the cops aiming all their arms upward as seen in television, Defensor justified, "but that's the right way of carrying their guns as they are ascending the chairs on their way to the Office of the Governor, otherwise it could result to accidental firing with their guns pointing downward as they may step on it."
"On the other hand, the recent incident serves as an eye-opener for both parties involved. It is a government agency telling us to implement the order against another government agency (Office of the Governor) as the recipient," lamented Defensor.
"We are left with no choice but to execute the order no matter how painful it may appear. You see-it is damned if you do, damned if you don't. I blamed both parties and you can quote me on that," he further added.
In the Senate, lawmakers investigating the alleged use of excessive force to oust Governor Niel Tupas Sr. Thursday, described as "pure alibi" the arguments raised by Western Visayas Police Director Wilfredo Dulay to justify the assault on the Iloilo Provincial Capitol to evict Tupas last week.
Senators Franklin Drilon, Alfredo Lim, Rodolfo Biazon and Juan Ponce Enrile expressed dismay on Dulay when the police official said the siege "was a judgment call and a preemptive move to protect the lives of his men.
Dulay claimed that supporters of Tupas were marching towards the Capitol and he feared that it might lead to a situation that might later on become uncontrollable.
Dulay, who attended the hearing jointly conducted by the Senate committee on public order and on local governments, said the assault may have been an over reaction but insisted that it was his way of "protecting lives of his men, including those of civilians who were also there that time."
"The collapse of exhaustive negotiation with Governor Tupas and his supporters to follow the lawful order has obliged this office to enforce the law and to clear the Capitol of barricades that hampered the delivery of public services to the general public. Likewise, to apprehend violators of existing laws particularly against public order such as Article 139 of the Revised Penal Code
for Sedition," Dulay told the committee.
It was on January 20 that Dulay received a memorandum from Iloilo City Police Director Wesley Barayuga that a firearm and several rounds of ammunition placed inside a black bag was confiscated by Senior Inspector Orly Gabinete while conducting visibility/security patrol outside the rear portion of Iloilo Provincial Capitol.
"The said high powered firearm was handed over to them by Police Officer 3 Vic Demadara over the fence of the Capitol," Dulay told the committee.
He further said an investigation is being conducted to determine who used it during the standoff, Dulay said.
Dulay said only 65 men entered the Iloilo Capitol while 182 members of the PNP civil disturbance and crowd management control were on standby only.
He said Tupas's camp asked police troops to wait for an hour so the temporary restraining order from the Court of Appeals could be transmitted.
However, Dulay said he could no longer wait because more civilian supporters could gather at the Capitol and create a more complicated scenario.
On the other hand, Senator Biazon pointed out that the police personnel who did the assault should once again undergo retraining on their rules of engagement because it appeared that they haven't briefed on it.
He added that the police officials should be aware that the Constitution provides that they were under the command of the National Police Commission (Napolcom) and not under the DILG.
He said it appeared that Dulay followed the order of the DILG and made to appear that he has not received the same order from the Napolcom.
Dulay admitted that the Internal Affairs Unit here has probed and has recommended that the PNP men during the assault should be given appropriate awards for carrying out a lawful order.
He also approved the same saying that he was happy that he was able to perform an order to him without bloodshed.
Dulay said there was no order that the governor will be arrested.
Governor Tupas, on the other hand, confirmed that Dulay has talked to him in the phone in the afternoon of January 17 that he is being given 10 minutes to step down from his post or a siege will happen.
The Senate panel ruled that TV footages of the siege confirmed that what police authorities did was "an overkill" in carrying out a dismissal order against Tupas.
Drilon said he cannot buy the alibi that some left leaning organizations such as Bayan Panay and Anakpawis believed to be associated with local communist movement were in the area to sow disorder.
Dulay claimed that they were able to monitor seven jeeploads of leftist members out to sow chaos.
"But they were not able to arrest not even one member. So how can we believe them?" Drilon asked.
Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, who did not appear in the hearing, submitted a letter to the committee explaining that pursuant to Memorandum Circular 108 of the Office of the President, they are required to ask permission from the
Chief Executive.
He asked the committee chairman that the scheduled public hearing be reset in order to give him ample time to secure the President's permission.
Puno said the footage was quite disturbing as he assured Drilon that the PNP itself is conducting an investigation of the incident.
Governor Tupas, who was invited to the hearing, maintained that his suspension was politically motivated as he accused Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. of ordering the assault on the Iloilo Capitol, an accusation that Gonzalez earlier denied.
Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, in her letter to the Senate panel, said her office had nothing to do with the implementation by the PNP of the dismissal order, specially the alleged abuse by some policemen in the Iloilo incident.
Her office, Gutierrez added, already directed an Ombudsman task force to conduct an investigation into the manner by which the implementation was done in order to determine if any public officer should be answerable by law. (With reports from Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Davao. (January 26, 2007 issue)
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