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Albayalde: Interpreting Duterte 'kill' remarks up to cops' judgment

September 7, 2017 | 9:38am

Albayalde: Interpreting Duterte 'kill' remarks up to cops' judgment

In this Feb. 7, 2017 photo, erring policemen are scolded by President Duterte at Malacañan. TNational Capital Region Police Office chief Oscar Albayalde said Thursday, September 7, that the police have to rely on their judgment call in deciphering what President Rodrigo Duterte means when he urges them to kill and make suspects fight back. Krizjohn Rosales

MANILA, Philippines — The police have to rely on their judgment call in deciphering what President Rodrigo Duterte means when he urges cops to kill and make suspects fight back, National Capital Region Police Office chief Oscar Albayalde said.

He also argued that there is no state policy to kill drug suspects despite the president putting forward statements to kill suspects and even human rights defenders in public speeches.

"There's no policy, really. Walang sinabi ang ating presidente. Let us make that very very clear. Even his first day of assumption of office as president, sinabi niya ang war on drugs but he never said that you kill left and right. Never said that," Director Albayalde said in an interview Thursday with ANC.

READ: NCRPO looking at police 'overkill' in Carl Arnaiz case

Metro Manila's top cop added that the president, known for proffering contradictory statements, already said he would not condone any abuses by cops.

The issue on whether it is state policy to kill drug suspects was a hot topic on the second day of the probe into the killing of Kian delos Santos, a teen shot dead during an anti-narcotics operations for allegedly resisting arrest despite witnesses and forensic evidence disputing this claim.

Duterte's drug war has resulted in over 12,000 deaths. The government, however, released a lower number of 3,811 deaths in anti-drug operations from July 1, 2016 to August 29, 2017.

'Read between the lines'

Albayalde said a police officer has to make a judgment call if he would follow Duterte's remark about making unarmed suspects fight back by giving them a gun.

"Well, you see what he said na 'kung walang baril bigyan ng baril'? That would be your call. He didn't say it's a directive. You have to probably read between the lines kung ano ang gusto talaga ng president," he said.

"You know it's an illegitimate order. You, as a responsible police officer, I don't think that yun ang magiging interpretasyon mo dun e."

Words are not wind

National Union of Journalist of the Philippines Director Nonoy Espina has warned that the president's words, which have the weight of policy, might be taken as a marching order by some even if they are later dismissed as sarcasm or jokes.

Duterte has put forward the subject of encouraging suspects to fight back on at least two occasions in December last year and July this year.

Albayalde repeated Sen. Panfilo Lacson's argument during Tuesday's Senate hearing, where the solon raised that protocols required by the police manual might be different from what the situation on the ground demands.

Under the PNP Operations Manual, the use of firearms is justified as self-defense if there is an imminent danger of death or injury to a cop or to another person. The manual adds that in resorting to self-defense, the police officer must be facing a real threat on his life that must be actual, imminent and real.

Lacson, however, also agreed with Commission on Human Rights chief Chito Gascon who said that it is the duty of the Philippine National Police's Internal Affairs Service to investigate every discharge of a firearm that resulted in death during an operation.

The CHR and the Senate Committee on Public order and Dangerous Drugs have been asking for copies of case folders of police drug war operations to review if the suspect really fought back.