NATIONAL Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) acting director Brigadier General Debold Sinas said on Thursday he is willing to conduct investigation on the some incidents where devotees were injured over the conduct of security operations during the procession of the Black Nazarene.
“Kung gusto nilang mag reklamo, we are willing to investigate. Kami rin may mga nasaktan din na pulis. Okay lang sa amin yun. That’s part of our job and we are happy to serve the people,” Sinas told reporters in an interview in Quiapo church.
Earlier, some devotees complained of sustaining injuries as policemen barricaded several areas where the procession passed through as well as when they formed and served as “andas wall” in front and on the sides of the carrier of the image to prevent them from climbing up on it to ensure the continuous flow of the procession.
Policemen reportedly hit unruly devotees with bamboo sticks while some of them were stepped-on by policemen who were wearing combat boots.
There were also reports saying that policemen sprayed devotees with a substance when they attempted to break the human barricade formed by cops.
Sinas in defense said what happened was unintentional for the part of the police and that it was done to contain the crowd.
“Sa mga deboto, kanya kanyang paniwala tayo. Ang akin lang is salamat po dahil karamihan sa inyo ay pinagbigyan kami. Yung improvement natin. Yung mga nasaktan pasensya na po. Yung mga naapakan pasensya na. Kasi kung hindi kayo pasaway hindi kayo maaapakan,” said Sinas.
Sinas said aside from several “unavoidable” glitches, there was no major problem reported during the procession.
“Wala kaming problema. Ang problema lang yung mga medyo wild na deboto na galing sa ibang lugar. Yung mga taga Maynila kausap namin okay. Siguro nga it takes time. Pero at least we achieved our partial goal. Having it faster na madala natin dito sa loob ng Quiapo,” he said.
“At least nagawa natin ito ngayon. Baka next year magawa ulit with additional improvement.Sa mga kapulisan, AFP at stakeholders salamat sa inyo at hanggang sa muling major activity,” he added.
Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Brigadier General Bernard Banac said the Traslacion 2020 was so far generally peaceful and orderly.
“There is no major untoward incident reported,” he said. (SunStar Philippines)