The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines on Friday asked the Philippine National Police to penalize Southern Police District director Brig. Gen. Nolasco Bathan for alleged abuse of authority when he grabbed the mobile phone of a journalist covering the Traslacion of the Black Nazarene last Thursday.
“It was clearly abuse of authority that Director Bathan committed when he snatched the mobile phone of GMA 7 reporter Jun Veneracion and ordered photos and footage the journalist had taken of the Traslacion deleted. Worse, he tried to justify his actions with a barefaced lie,” the NUJP said in a statement.
Veneracion said he was shooting video footage of a devotee being subdued by policemen, one of whom was applying what appeared to be a choke hold, when his phone was taken from him by a police officer who he later confirmed to be Bathan.
When confronted, Veneracion said the general, who he described as “fuming mad,” threatened to take away his handheld radio as well.
Bathan eventually returned Veneracion’s phone, claiming he did not recognize the reporter. Veneracion then checked his phone’s gallery to find his video of the subjugation of the devotee missing. When he asked Bathan why it had been erased, the general denied deleting the video and even invoked the Black Nazarene as witness.
When Veneracion checked again, he found the missing file in his recently deleted folder.
It turned out that, after the phone was seized, it continued to record and towards the end of the video, a man’s voice could be heard ordering, “Burahin mo, burahin mo. Kuha ni Jun Veneracion. Putangina nagku-kuwan eh. (Erase it, erase it. That was shot by Jun Veneracion, son of a bitch.)”
The NUJP said what Bathan did was not just an assault on press freedom, but also a violation of Veneracion’s rights as a citizen.
“And the attempt to delete Veneracion’s footage is, to our mind, a crime. At the very least, he tried to destroy private property. Worse, here was a police officer destroying what could very well constitute evidence of the commission of a crime by his own men. While Bathan has reportedly apologized, his bumbling effort to lie his way out of trouble casts doubt on his sincerity,” it added.
“As Veneracion aptly observed, the general apparently thinks he “can get away with murder.”
The NUJP said such behavior made by Bathan not only makes a mockery of the policeman’s oath to “serve and protect,” if unpunished, it can only add to the worsening impunity that has marked the general breakdown of the rule of law in this country.
“We demand that the Philippine National Police mount a swift and impartial investigation into this incident and impose the appropriate sanctions against Brig. Gen. Bathan. Anything less can only bolster the growing perception that our law enforcers are also the primary lawbreakers,” the group said.
Bathan, in a statement, offered an apology.
“I would like to apologize for what happened at Ayala Bridge, Manila during the Procession of the Black Nazarene 2020 wherein I confiscated the cellular phone of the media personality who was later on identified as Mr. Jun Veneracion of GMA 7 thinking that he was someone who poses threat during the procession,” he said.
He claimed there was a commotion between the police officers and a hapless Black Nazarene devotee during the time Mr. Veneracion was at the said place and “everything went uncontrollable when the PNP let go of the Andas to all the people especially the devotees to get near to it.”
“Of course, on the part of the PNP, we still have to maintain the security in the area because the situation is very critical at that moment. What happened between me and Mr. Veneracion was somehow a misunderstanding and I again sincerely apologized for my actions, it all happened unintentionally, we are just securing peace and order in the area.”
The National Capital Region Police Office is investigating the incident.
A senior Palace official on Friday defended the intensified security measures during Traslacion, saying these were necessary to keep everyone safe amid the complaints of Black Nazarene devotees that they were hurt.
“They needed to put some order to secure our fellow Filipinos there please understand that they needed to do what they did to secure the procession,” Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said.
Nograles said the devotees were just not used to the measures implemented by the police force during Traslacion.
“At the end of the day, let’s just look at the result. It was successful. There were no untoward incidents, deaths, or anything totally disruptive,” he said.
Nograles said there will be no coverup on the PNP’s investigation of Bathan.
“The issue on the supposed confiscation of the phone and deletion of the video, that will pass through a process of investigation. There was already a commitment from PNP officials, higher-ups from PNP, that they will investigate the matter. We trust the PNP is doing what is right,” he said.
Also on Friday, Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, noted that this year’s procession was more peaceful than in years previous, with no fatalities. “With such a large crowd, we really have to be careful that no one causes a stampede or causes a stir where there could be more casualties or more people hurt,” said Gordon. “I’m glad that it’s over and nobody’s hurt that bad. We took some people to the hospital and some of them were serious cases but no one died so far.” With Macon Ramos-Araneta