Senator Ronald Dela Rosa is urging the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to conduct training on rules on engagement for military personnel, specifically for the auxiliary members of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU).
Dela Rosa, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Order, cited an earlier viral video of a CAFGU auxiliary member who fatally shot a man who allegedly ran amok and the latter’s father in Negros Occidental.
Due to this, Dela Rosa stressed the need to train CAFGU members on the rules of engagement as this particular unit of the AFP is deployed in different far-flung communities where police officers are not present.
The CAFGU auxiliary member who was involved in the incident reportedly claimed that he defended himself after the victims allegedly threatened him with a bolo—a large single-edged knife commonly used in Filipino households.
Citing his years of experience in the Philippine National Police, Dela Rosa explained that under the Police Operational Procedure, the victims should have been given a warning shot before the CAFGU auxiliary member resorted to firing his gun against the supposed offenders.
For Dela Rosa, there is no justification for the shooting of the father of the man.
