When rage takes the wheel

Roads, since time immemorial, have been held in trust for the people to use according to jurisprudence. To ensure the safety of the public-at-large – commuters and motorists in particular – the national and local governments enforce road and traffic regulations. It is exasperating, therefore, when we see viral videos or news reports of police officers exhibiting road rage behavior.

The public ire has yet to subside on the gun-toting incident between a dismissed police officer turned terminated Supreme Court employee and a cyclist on Aug. 8 in Quezon City when another violent traffic altercation occurred on Aug. 25 in Makati City. A scuffle involved a policeman assigned in Pasay City and a motorcyclist, who claimed to be an Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) member. The 16-second video showed P/S Sgt. Marsan Dolipas pointing a gun on Angelito Rencio. Allegedly, Dolipas accosted the latter for cutting lanes and sideswiping his car. The cop also accused Rencio of trying to pull out a gun while hurling expletives and flipping the middle finger.

Unfortunately, the acts of a few rotten eggs unfairly cast the Philippine National Police (PNP) in a bad light. Their outrageous display of violence is a great disservice to the institution responsible for the improved peace and order situation across the archipelago. In the first half of 2023, the crime index declined by 10 percent compared to the same period in 2022.

Reasonable vs. excessive force

In my SMNI Pulso ng Bayan program two days ago, I spoke with National Capital Region Police Office (NCPRO) spokesperson Lt. Col. Eunice Salas. She vowed the PNP is already conducting a speedy, fair and thorough investigation to disabuse any public notion of a cover-up. The police sergeant was placed under the administrative holding unit while the Makati substation commander and desk officers were relieved for committing procedural lapses. The AFP, meanwhile, has denied that Rencio is a military intelligence officer. The PNP has launched a manhunt for the biker after he failed to submit the requisite permit to carry firearm outside residence (PTCFOR) and mission order to the Makati police.

These incidents send a chilling message to the public that there are still men in uniform who are prone to act as judge, jury and executioner when responding to an offender. Despite their many trainings and supposed continuing education, there are law enforcers who fail to distinguish between the use of reasonable and excessive force in police operations. Thus, I strongly suggest that these cops undergo an immediate re-orientation on the force continuum policy as defined under the 2021 Revised PNP Manual. In the conduct of police operations, PNP personnel are mandated to respect and uphold the human rights and dignity of all persons at all times. Moreover, they are forbidden to use excessive force when arresting or immobilizing the suspect during an operation.

Self-defense

Nevertheless, the Operational Manual allows police officers, depending on the circumstance, to apply necessary and reasonable force: non-lethal, less lethal and lethal. They are also not required to afford the offender/s the opportunity for a fair and equal struggle. The necessary and reasonable use of force is allowed to overcome the aggression of an armed offender and subduing the clear and present danger posed by him/her (Chapter 2, Section 2-4).

The use of firearms during police operations is justified if the offender poses an imminent danger of causing death or injury to the police officer, as well as under the doctrines of self-defense, defense of a relative and defense of a stranger. However, officers who resort to self-defense must face a real, actual and imminent threat to their lives (Section 2-5).

Is the sergeant’s action justifiable? The viral video does not lie. Dolipa’s violent and aggressive behavior was caught on camera. As the personification of the sovereign power of the State to enforce the law and maintain peace and order, the policeman should have exercised more patience in apprehending the biker. In my view, what he did to the motorcyclist is unacceptable in the eyes of the law. It is contrary to upholding human rights. As a public safety servant, he failed to act in a professional and respectable manner.

On the other hand, the police sergeant can invoke the principle of self-defense under the Revised Penal Code (Article 11). He must prove that he acted in defense of his person or rights against Rencio’s unlawful aggression. Otherwise, I can see three possible criminal charges that can be filed against the Pasay cop: physical injuries, grave coercion or grave threats.

Truncheons and whistles

Meantime, at a Senate committee hearing on public order, Senator Bato dela Rosa proposed to bring back the use of truncheon or baton and whistle by the country’s police force. This would prevent the PNP from relying on lethal force when dealing with criminal offenders.

The proposal takes a page from countries like Great Britain, Norway, Ireland, Iceland and New Zealand whose police officers do not carry guns while patrolling the streets. They are only equipped with firearms in special circumstances (Washington Post). Will this strategy work in the Philippines? Unless we resolve the illegal firearms trade in the country, neutralize drug cartels and other criminal syndicates, disband private armies and put an end to the security threats from the Communist rebels and separatist groups, I do not believe so.

Likewise, the Supreme Court has underscored the importance of self-preservation and self-defense in our criminal justice system. In the 1922 case of US vs. Mojica, the Court stated that “a police officer, in the performance of his duty, must stand his ground and cannot, like a private individual, take refuge in light; his duty requires him to overcome his opponent. The force which he may exert therefore differs somewhat from that which may ordinarily be offered in self-defense…”

I maintain that we have a majority of professional law enforcers who understand their role in our society. They know that while the Department of the Interior and Local Government Act of 1990 empowers them to arrest and assist in prosecuting criminal offenders, their operational procedures must always adhere to the 1987 Constitution and pertinent laws.