“The Internal Affairs Service must enjoy more autonomy in investigating erring cops.”
“The Internal Affairs Service must enjoy more autonomy in investigating erring cops.”
We believe Police General Guillermo Eleazar, Chief of Philippine National Police (PNP), is true to his word of his vow to boot out police scalawags.
That is why he is personally attending to the murder case against a Quezon City policeman who shot dead a woman neighbor recently.
P/MSgt Hensie Zinampan blamed his drunkenness for killing Lilybeth Valdez, 52, after a quarrel with her two sons.
An infuriated General Eleazar confronted Zinampan at the Quezon City Police District headquarters telling the killer cop in the face that there is no place for bad eggs like him in the PNP.
A relative of the victim entirely caught on video how Zinampan grabbed Valdez by the hair and shot her pointblank in the neck. After dropping the woman like a dead chicken, the cop walked away casually.
The video was immediately posted on social media and went viral in minutes for all the world to see.
Zinampan told General Eleazar he got drunk after allegedly being beaten up by Valdez’ sons. He felt disrespected and humiliated. “Wala silang galang sa pulis,” he cried.
Ironically, Zinampan professed to be a “fine police officer” who, in a Twitter post, had previously deplored the cold-blooded killing of a mother and son by another cop, Jonel Nuezca, in Tarlac last December.
Nuezca, who was a police master sergeant, has been summarily dismissed from service, jailed and charged with double murder. The Parañaque City anti-drugs operative had faced a string of criminal cases but managed to stay and even get promoted in the PNP.
The latest incident with Zinampan occurred in the wake of a pending review of alleged extra-judicial killing (EJK) cases by the Department of Justice (DOJ) due to international concerns over human rights violations in the country amid the worsening COVID pandemic.
I agree with the PNP Chief who assumed office just three weeks ago on the need to drastically improve the PNP recruitment and infuse better qualified new members to augment the 220,000-strong national police force.
General Eleazar has five months until he retires to start a no-nonsense effort to weed out undesirables like the Ninja cops. They may comprise a small percentage of the entire PNP but they have ruined its image.
The PNP is now accepting applications to bring in 17,000 new police officers, including more female cops.
I strongly support General Eleazar’s call for active public cooperation in reporting criminal activities, including those involving rogue cops.
There is clearly a need for stringent, world-class standards for the recruitment for mentally as well as physically fit police officers.
I also urge public support to the legislation for the reimposition the death penalty on heinous crimes such as those committed by men in uniform.
I also highly recommend frequent drug tests for PNP members nationwide.
Last but not least, the PNP Internal Affairs Service (IAS) should be given more autonomy in investigating complaints against policemen, free from undue interference from the PNP’s high ranking officials.
This will speed up the prosecution of pending cases and PNP cleansing.
I believe the PNP is not just dealing with a few psychotic cops among its ranks but a perennial culture of impunity that has undermined the morale of the greater number of good cops.
On behalf of the Anti-Crime and Terrorism Through Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) Partylist, reaffirms all out support to the PNP leadership in its honest efforts to reform and fulfill its mandate to serve and protect the Filipino people.
