Cop gets psychiatric test, faces ax over violent rally dispersal

MANILA, Philippines – The police officer who drove the vehicle that plowed through protesters in front of the United States embassy in Manila last week may be dismissed from the service if he fails his neuropsychiatric evaluation, an official said yesterday.

Police Officer 3 Franklin Kho, assigned with the District Public Safety Battalion of the Manila Police District (MPD), underwent psychiatric test on Monday to determine his state of mind at the time of the incident, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director Chief Superintendent Oscar Albayalde said.

The medical test was conducted at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Hospital at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

“We want to know the state of his mind during the violent dispersal of anti-US protesters. We have no capability here at the NCRPO to do such thing so he was brought to Camp Crame to undergo the procedure,” Albayalde said in an interview.

Albayalde said Kho may be dismissed from the police service if he fails the test.

The NCRPO chief said a police officer should be mentally and physically fit while performing his duties under PNP rules.

Albayalde said they are waiting for the results of the test.

Kho drove the police van and plowed through dozens of protesters when they tried to get near the embassy gate.

Scores of rallyists, including Kabataan party-list Rep. Sarah Elado and 61-year-old lumad woman Baling Katubigan, and police officers were hurt during the incident.

Kho and over 80 MPD members have been relieved from their posts. They are being probed by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Kho claimed he was under pressure at the time because the rallyists were hitting the driver’s side of the van with sticks and other hard objects.

Albayalde said the protesters tried to overturn the vehicle as shown on video footage taken by the MPD personnel.

Independent probe sought

Protesters who were hurt during the violent police dispersal sought an independent investigation on the incident to be conducted by the human rights joint monitoring committee created by the negotiating panels of the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF).

Piya Macliing Malayao, lead convener of Sandugo and one of those who were injured in the dispersal, said the peace panel could initiate a probe as it is mandated to monitor incidents of human rights violations.

“The case of police brutality during a rally at the US embassy was a bloody crescendo in the continuing  attacks by police and military forces against national minorities,” Malayao said.

“We call on the joint monitoring committee to launch a comprehensive inquiry into the dispersal to hold the perpetrators accountable,” she added.

The creation of the joint committee was mandated by the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) signed by the Philippine government with the NDF in 1998.

Under CARHRIHL, the government and the NDF agreed to uphold and respect the human rights of people, particularly that of workers, peasants and other minorities. – With Janvic Mateo