PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) Chief Debold Sinas on Tuesday, December 8, 2020, said he has not directed police personnel to hit violators of the physical distancing rule with a wooden stick.
The stick, however, will be used to subdue those who turn violent and resist arrest.
“Instead na barilin kaagad namin, 'yun na lang pangsubdue namin," Sinas said in a press briefing in Camp Crame on Tuesday.
He explained that the primary use for the one-meter wooden stick is to measure the distance between individuals in a crowded place.
He said this will also ensure that policemen avoid having contact with other people in enforcing the physical distancing protocol.
However, he said it can still be used for those resisting arrest.
The statement of Lieutenant General Cesar Hawthorne Binag, PNP deputy director for operations, that wooden sticks will be used to hit health protocol violators drew flak from the public.
Binag said during the press conference that over 2,600 violators assaulted the police who reminded them to maintain safe distance from each other.
A total of 598,000 have been apprehended for failing to observe physical distancing. Around 42 percent were penalized, 34 percent were warned and allowed to go home, and the rest were arrested for direct assault and attacking persons in authority.
In his public address on Monday evening, December 7, 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte encouraged the use of baton as a first line of defense against criminals.
“Alam mo nagtaka talaga ako kung bakit ito tinanggal. You know, when a person resists arrest and he becomes violent, the first impulse of a police without a baton is to hold his gun. He might not draw it but he holds his gun, ready for action,” Duterte said.
With a baton, Duterte said policemen might be able to subdue suspects without having to fire their guns.
Sinas said they will also study the possibility of acquiring batons (batuta) as a non-lethal weapon against aggressive criminals. (SunStar Philippines)