Public outraged over video showing police torturing suspect
By William B. Depasupil
The Manila Times – www.manilatimes.net
Thursday, 19 August 2010
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Wednesday launched an investigation of the Philippine National Police (PNP) amid public outrage over a video showing an officer torturing a naked man. The graphic video, which ABS-CBN television said it had obtained from an unidentified informant who recorded it on a cell phone, showed the officer in civilian clothes whipping the man with what appeared to be a stick.
A rope appeared to be tied to the victim’s penis, which the torturer would yank in between blows to the body.
“This is very disturbing. They treated him worse than an animal,” said Coco Quisumbing, the CHR chairman, who had reviewed the clip.
“This is the very first time that this happened [actual torture caught on video] and it is groundbreaking,” she added.
“Police should now submit to our investigation in a timely manner,” Quisumbing told an ABS-CBN radio affiliate.
While allegations of torture and extra-judicial killings carried out by police and military are nothing new, Tuesday’s airing of the video was the first time such incident was shown on public television.
ABS-CBN did not say when it took place, and the fate of the victim was unclear.
One of those who had closely reviewed the clip at the rights commission said she could hear the torturer berating the victim as a criminal.
The Manila police commander, Chief Supt. Rodolfo Magtibay, said that the incident appeared to have taken place in a police station under his jurisdiction.
He confirmed that the torturer was a police officer who had since been sacked from his post and was now under investigation related to possible criminal charges.
“There is no place for a policeman like that,” Magtibay said.
The PNP high command also on Wednesday vowed to prosecute policemen involved in the reported torture of a robbery suspect inside a police community precinct (PCP) in Manila, setting the tone for a wider investigation of similar incidents perpetrated by policemen elsewhere in the country.
The PNP chief, Director Gen. Jesus Verzosa also ordered the creation of Investigation Task Group (ITG) Asuncion that will conduct a thorough probe of the incident, which happened at PCP 2 in Asuncion in Manila’s Tondo district.
He further ordered that a neuropsychiatric evaluation be conducted on the station commander, Senior Insp. Joselito Binayug, and all personnel of PCP 2 and be made to undergo the 30-day Character and Aptitude Development Training (CADET) program at the PNP Values and Leadership School in Zambales.
Binayug and his men were also removed from their posts.
“Such actions do not have any place in an organization that espouses respect for human rights,” Verzosa said, adding that based on results of the investigation and recommendations of IT-Asuncion, all those responsible would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law to prevent a repetition of the same.
“Any form of brutality and abuse of authority by PNP personnel ill not be tolerated and will be dealt with swiftly and decisively according to our disciplinary rules and internal policy,” he added.
Verzosa named Chief Supt. Roberto Rongavilla, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) deputy regional director for administration, as head of ITG-Asuncion with investigators from the NCRPO, Internal Affairs Service, and the PNP Human Rights Affairs Office as members.
A spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Senior Supt. Agremiro Cruz Jr, said that aside from criminal liability, the policemen involved also face dismissal from the service if found guilty.
Initially, investigators are looking at apparent violation of Republic Act 9745, or the Anti-Torture Act of 2009, and other specific violations of existing rules and procedures on the disposition of arrested criminal offenders.
Cruz assured the full cooperation and support of all concerned PNP units and offices in separate investigations being conducted by other government agencies and disciplinary bodies.
WITH REPORT FROM AFP
Cop in torture video faces raps
By Tina Santos, Jeannette Andrade
Philippine Daily Inquirer – www.inquirer.net
Friday, August 20, 2010
MANILA, Philippines—Administrative charges will be filed against a Manila police precinct commander and 13 of his men who were allegedly involved in torturing a robbery suspect, a video footage of which was shown on national television on Tuesday.
“There’s no need for a complainant filing the administrative case. Visual evidence is enough,” Leocadio Santiago, director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), told reporters.
Santiago said the NCRPO would be able to determine the civil and criminal liability of Senior Insp. Joselito Binayug and other policemen involved in two weeks.
“We will be filing a case against Binayug for dereliction of duty but we want something heavier,” Santiago said. “There’s no place for policemen like him in the police force.”
Binayug and his men were relieved after a television news video showed the footage, shot using a cell phone camera, of a naked and bound man, grimacing apparently in great pain on the floor of what was described as the precinct station on Asuncion Street in Tondo, Manila.
The man tugging at the string tied to the genitals of the suspect each time he failed to answer a question was identified as Binayug.
Also on the video were men said to be policemen hitting the suspect while others were looking on.
Binayug has been under restricted custody of Chief Supt. Rodolfo Magtibay, Manila Police District (MPD) director, according to Santiago.
The entire police unit under Binayug will be assigned to a regional training unit while undergoing investigation, the NCRPO chief said.
International issue
The Philippine National Police has formed Task Force Asuncion to probe the alleged torture and determine the appropriate charges against the perpetrators.
“This has become a national issue and even an international issue. We won’t be satisfied filing administrative charges. Criminal charges must also be filed,” Santiago said.
The PNP said the police officers would be investigated if they violated Republic Act No. 9745, or the Anti-Torture Act of 2009.
Binayug denied any knowledge of the video purportedly showing him as the torturer.
“I will face it in a proper forum. Let my counsel speak on my behalf,” he told reporters at the MPD headquarters on UN Avenue. He granted the interview on the condition that there would be no cameras and tape recorders.
Binayug, who has been in the police service for 15 years, said he did not know anything about what was shown on TV when asked about it.
Visibly anxious over the accusation, Binayug paced the floor, sat and stood up from an arm chair as he spoke to reporters. He constantly fiddled with his mobile phones and toyed with a ball cap, alternately removing and wearing it.
He made comments about previous cases he handled in which he figured in shoot-outs with suspected robbers and emphasized that the incidents had complainants.
Reputation destroyed
Binayug seemed to be fighting back tears when he remarked that with his reputation destroyed he was more concerned with his children.
He briefly mentioned that one of his children had been held up near a precinct and told reporters that if they had children, they would know how it felt.
In an attempt to curb the torture of suspects, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said it would probe police personnel facing various charges.
Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo told the Inquirer on Wednesday that the DILG would review records of cases filed against policemen and their service records to determine if any of them would need to be relieved and to undergo a new round of neuropsychiatric evaluation.
“We want to send a message that this kind of behavior and culture will not be tolerated,” Robredo said.
He also said he would move to make the investigations against alleged abuses committed by police personnel “speedier and more credible.”
As interior secretary, Robredo chairs the National Police Commission (Napolcom) which has administrative and operational control over the PNP.
A charge of kidnap for ransom was filed in 2005 by the National Bureau of Investigation against Binayug and five other policemen of the Western Police District (now the Manila Police District).
Binayug, then a police lieutenant, and his men allegedly posed as agents of the NBI and abducted mobile phone store owner Roberto Ong. The businessman was allegedly released after coughing up P18,000 in cash and more than P1 million worth of mobile phones.
But Binayug Thursday said that the only charge he ever faced was an administrative case where he failed to appear before a court for a hearing in a drug case.
Magtibay told the Inquirer that the MPD would be looking into incidents in which Binayug figured in shoot-outs with suspected robbers.
Based on reports, Binayug and his men last figured in an alleged shoot-out with a suspected robber on Aug. 13. Apart from that incident, he engaged suspects in armed encounters in which one of his men or he himself was victimized by robbers.
Best police outpost
The Asuncion precinct, which Binayug leads, was awarded in January by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim as the best police outpost of the year during the MPD anniversary, for at least six instances in which the police captain and his men neutralized suspected robbers in armed encounters.
As part of the investigation, Magtibay said he had directed the Asuncion precinct to surrender its blotter book to the NCRPO task force to establish the time when the video was taken and to determine the identity of the victim.
“We are hoping that other policemen who know something about this come out in the open and describe in detail what happened,” he said.
The MPD director said not all of policemen assigned to the precinct were involved in the actual torture but the policemen were suspended as part of standard operating procedure.
Norm
Magtibay described the alleged torture at the precinct as an isolated case. “We will not allow the few rogues to destroy the institution,” he said.
But the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said mistreatment of criminal suspects appeared to be the norm for law enforcement officers.
“There really is a problem with how the police treat the suspects,” CHR Commissioner Cecilia Quisumbing said. In the first semester of 2010 alone, the CHR recorded “more than 200 cases of police maltreatment.”
The CHR is investigating the torture of the suspected thief caught on video, and is helping identify the suspect.
The Office of the Ombudsman has also formed a task force to probe the criminal culpability of the policemen. This is the first time that the Ombudsman would investigate law enforcement members for violating the Anti-Torture Act. With reports from Kristine L. Alave and Alcuin Papa
Police brutality inside cop HQ to test Anti-Torture Act
By Jeamma E. Sabate
The Manila Bulletin – www.mb.com.ph
Friday, August 20, 2010
The torture of a suspected thief inside a police precinct will put to test the recently passed Anti-Torture Act.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said on Thursday individuals involved should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
“It is time to put this piece of legislation (Anti-Torture Act) to the test and see if it can be an effective tool for greater accountability and diminished impunity,” De Lima added.
The DoJ secretary issued the statement on Thursday as she said more heads will roll in connection with the torture of the suspected thief inside a prison cell in Tondo, Manila, saying the policemen’s immediate superiors should be held liable due to command responsibility.
De Lima said the head of the police station which has jurisdiction over the Manila Police District-Asuncion Community Precinct (PCP) in Tondo, Manila should be asked to explain why he should not be held liable for the torture of the suspect who later died.
“They can always say that they are not present at that time. But investigation should extend as to whether or not the superiors have prior or subsequent knowledge of the torture of whether they exercise due diligence (supervision) on their personnel to avoid such incident of torture or cruelty. If the head or heads of the police station knew the incident only afterwards, he should have taken actions,” she said.
De Lima lauded the Manila Police District (MPD) for relieving the police officers reportedly present during the torture, but said the investigation should also extend to their immediate superiors.
“That’s why we have command responsibility. The victim eventually died, and the imposable penalty depends on the consequent of such act. And since the victim died, although it is not yet determined if he indeed died due (to torture), then the imposable penalty is the maximum which is reclusion perpetua,” she said.
De Lima said she would still determine if the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will conduct parallel investigation. “The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) can conduct its own probe, the PNP should conduct an honest- to- goodness investigation since it involved PNP personnel. Let’s see if there is need for the NBI to conduct a probe baka naman kasi marami, but it may only do more harm than good,” she said.
She also said the case should prosper whether the one who took the video surfaces or not. “They said there is no complainant because the one who took the video has yet to surface. That should not be the case. They can ask the policemen who were supposedly present during the time and conduct the probe,” she said.
De Lima said there is no place in our society for the sickening practice of torture. “There is no place within our law enforcement agencies for individuals capable of engaging in something so despicable," said De Lima.
“It is time to put this piece of legislation to the test and see if it can be an effective tool for greater accountability and diminished impunity,” De Lima added.
Reports said the entire force of a police precinct in Tondo, Manila was relieved last Wednesday and Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay, MPD director, ordered an investigation over a cell- phone video showing one of the police officers torturing a suspect through his sex organ, while the others merely watched.
Magtibay said all 20 members of the Asuncion community precinct were relieved, effective on Wednesday, following the relief on Tuesday of the precinct commander, Senior Inspector Joselito Binayug.
PNP assures probe on alleged video torture
By Francis T. Wakefield
The Manila Bulletin – www.mb.com.ph
Friday, August 20, 2010
The chief of the Philippine National Police-Human Rights Affairs Office on Thursday assured that steps have already been taken to get to the bottom of the alleged torture committed by members of the Manila Police District (MPD) against an alleged robbery suspect.
Police Chief Supt Franklin Bucayu, chief of the PNP Human Rights Affairs Office, said that the PNP headed by Police Director General Jesus A. Versoza does not tolerate such acts and that steps have already been done to investigate and punish those who are allegedly part of it.
Earlier, the National Capital Region Police Office chief, Director Leocadio Santiago ordered the relief of Senior Inspector Joselito Binayug, precinct commander of Asuncion in Tondo and his men following the airing on television news channel ABS-CBN of a cell phone footage showing the alleged torture of a robbery suspect.
Bucayu said that as a result of the incident, the PNP has created “Task Group Asuncion” composed of members of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Intelligence Group (IG) the MPD and the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) to probe the matter.
“The task force is already conducting an investigation regarding the incident. Aside from that, Senior Inspector Joselito Binayog has already been relieved of his post, disarmed and will undergo formal investigation. He has been assigned to the MPD pending the result of the probe,” Bucayu said.
Bucayu said that they are also in favor of enforcing stiffer sanctions against those committing torture on civilians or alleged criminals to prevent them from doing such acts.
He added that since the creation of the PNP’s Human Rights Affairs Office three years ago, they have been doing their best to educate their policemen on how to promote human rights in the enforcement of their job.
“We have not been sleeping on our jobs in enforcing discipline on our policemen. In fact, since the start of the year, we already have three policemen dismissed from service, one suspension and another one under preventive suspension. We will try to improve more on this,” he said.
Fact- finding body formed to probe report of missing farmer
By Freddie G. Lazaro
The Manila Bulletin – www.mb.com.ph
Friday, August 20, 2010
VIGAN CITY — The law enforcement agencies and Ilocos Sur’s local government created a fact finding body to investigate reports of 20 fully armed uniformed men roaming the countryside and a farmer missing in an upland town in the province.
The investigating body is composed of the police represented by Ilocos Sur police director Senior Superintendent Eduardo Dopale, the Philippine Army represented by Colonel Rogelio Migote, Commander of the army’s 50th Infantry Battalion and the provincial government of Ilocos Sur led by Governor Luis Chavit Singson, Vice Governor Deogracias Victor DV B. Savellano, Provincial Board Members Orlino Tesoro and Robert Tudayan.
The factfinding body was sought by provincial board member Tudayan during a privilege speech in a regular session who wanted an investigation into reports of missing farmer identified as Nicolas Ramos, a resident from Barangay Poblacion, Salcedo, Ilocos Sur and the presence of abusive fully – armed uniformed men who claimed themselves as New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Salcedo, Galimuyod and Santa Lucia towns in the province.
Tudayan said that Ramos, an uncle of slain NPA member Randy Ramos, was reported missing since July 24, 2010 and was allegedly kidnapped by the reported armed men wandering in the towns of Salcedo, Galimuyod and Santa Lucia when he went to Barangay Dinaratan, Salcedo town to help his relatives in planting rice.
There was a report that before Ramos went missing, fully armed men were seen near his house.
According to Tudayan, sometime on the third week of July or before Ramos went missing, he received reports from civilians about the presence 20 fully-armed men who identified themselves as NPA rebels roaming around Barangay Baracbac, Galimuyod, Ilocos Sur.
He said that these armed men were reportedly harassing the local residents while soliciting rice and other foods and took what they want from them.
These armed men were also looting fishponds maintained by the local folk near the rivers in Galimuyod town and they also engaged cattle and goat rustling in the towns of Salcedo and Santa Lucia.
“Because of these malicious, unlawful and shocking activities of the armed group, the residents reported it to the commander of the CAFGU unit based in Barangay Bitong, Galimuyod town but to their dismay, their pleas fell on deaf ears,” Tudayan said.
I’m not hiding -- Binayug
by Jerico Javier & Alfred Dalizon
People’s Journal – www.journal.com.ph
Friday, August 20, 2010
“I will face it in a proper forum and let my counsel speak on my behalf.”
Thus said embattled Senior Insp. Joselito Binayug during an interview with selected media personnel yesterday afternoon.
Binayug, who was relieved as commander of the Manila Police District’s Asuncion Community Precinct together with his entire personnel, vehemently denied that he was hiding since the controversial video footage saying he immediately submitted himself for investigation right after the video showing police brutality was shown on ABS-CBN Channel 2 last Tuesday.
Binayug also declined to confirm if he was the policeman in the video footage who was shown torturing a suspected robber.
The controversial cop, who bore a stoic expression, also talked about his experience as a policeman but insisted that all his statement should be off the record.
“Basta ’yun lang po ang statement ko, lahat po ng sasabihin ko sa inyo off the record,” Binayug added.
He also did not allow reporters to write down notes, to use recorders and to take any pictures or video.
Binayug, who was wearing baseball cap, even got mad to a reporter when he saw the latter writing on notebook.
But the police officer later apologized for berating the reporter.
“Pasensiya na, sana naiintindihan n’yo ang kalagayan ko ngayon,” he said.
On the other hand, Philippine National Police chief Director General Jesus A. Verzosa yesterday said Binayug has been placed under 24-hour guard.
Verzosa described the the video as “disgusting” and a “totally unwarranted action” by the policemen involved.
Verzosa added Binayug was also undergoing a formal investigation.
He said that members of the Special Investigation Task Group Asuncion are now digging the records of Binayug amid reports that he is facing a number of criminal and administrative charges.
On orders of Verzosa, Binayug and 21 of his men who were also sacked from their post will be subjected to neuro-psychiatric (NP) evaluation, and will be made to undergo the 30-day Character and Aptitude Development Training (CADET) program at the PNP Values and Leadership School in Subic.
The PNP chief also ordered concerned PNP units and offices to fully cooperate in separate investigations to be conducted by other government agencies and disciplinary bodies regarding the matter.
PNP spokesman Senior Supt. Agrimero A. Cruz Jr. said the task group composed of investigators from the National Capital Region Police Office, the PNP Human Rights Affairs Office and the PNP Internal Affairs Service is interviewing concerned policemen, complainants and witnesses as part of the investigation.
The fact-finding group is headed by NCRPO deputy regional director for administration Chief Supt. Roberto Rongavilla.
By William B. Depasupil
The Manila Times – www.manilatimes.net
Thursday, 19 August 2010
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Wednesday launched an investigation of the Philippine National Police (PNP) amid public outrage over a video showing an officer torturing a naked man. The graphic video, which ABS-CBN television said it had obtained from an unidentified informant who recorded it on a cell phone, showed the officer in civilian clothes whipping the man with what appeared to be a stick.
A rope appeared to be tied to the victim’s penis, which the torturer would yank in between blows to the body.
“This is very disturbing. They treated him worse than an animal,” said Coco Quisumbing, the CHR chairman, who had reviewed the clip.
“This is the very first time that this happened [actual torture caught on video] and it is groundbreaking,” she added.
“Police should now submit to our investigation in a timely manner,” Quisumbing told an ABS-CBN radio affiliate.
While allegations of torture and extra-judicial killings carried out by police and military are nothing new, Tuesday’s airing of the video was the first time such incident was shown on public television.
ABS-CBN did not say when it took place, and the fate of the victim was unclear.
One of those who had closely reviewed the clip at the rights commission said she could hear the torturer berating the victim as a criminal.
The Manila police commander, Chief Supt. Rodolfo Magtibay, said that the incident appeared to have taken place in a police station under his jurisdiction.
He confirmed that the torturer was a police officer who had since been sacked from his post and was now under investigation related to possible criminal charges.
“There is no place for a policeman like that,” Magtibay said.
The PNP high command also on Wednesday vowed to prosecute policemen involved in the reported torture of a robbery suspect inside a police community precinct (PCP) in Manila, setting the tone for a wider investigation of similar incidents perpetrated by policemen elsewhere in the country.
The PNP chief, Director Gen. Jesus Verzosa also ordered the creation of Investigation Task Group (ITG) Asuncion that will conduct a thorough probe of the incident, which happened at PCP 2 in Asuncion in Manila’s Tondo district.
He further ordered that a neuropsychiatric evaluation be conducted on the station commander, Senior Insp. Joselito Binayug, and all personnel of PCP 2 and be made to undergo the 30-day Character and Aptitude Development Training (CADET) program at the PNP Values and Leadership School in Zambales.
Binayug and his men were also removed from their posts.
“Such actions do not have any place in an organization that espouses respect for human rights,” Verzosa said, adding that based on results of the investigation and recommendations of IT-Asuncion, all those responsible would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law to prevent a repetition of the same.
“Any form of brutality and abuse of authority by PNP personnel ill not be tolerated and will be dealt with swiftly and decisively according to our disciplinary rules and internal policy,” he added.
Verzosa named Chief Supt. Roberto Rongavilla, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) deputy regional director for administration, as head of ITG-Asuncion with investigators from the NCRPO, Internal Affairs Service, and the PNP Human Rights Affairs Office as members.
A spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Senior Supt. Agremiro Cruz Jr, said that aside from criminal liability, the policemen involved also face dismissal from the service if found guilty.
Initially, investigators are looking at apparent violation of Republic Act 9745, or the Anti-Torture Act of 2009, and other specific violations of existing rules and procedures on the disposition of arrested criminal offenders.
Cruz assured the full cooperation and support of all concerned PNP units and offices in separate investigations being conducted by other government agencies and disciplinary bodies.
WITH REPORT FROM AFP
Cop in torture video faces raps
By Tina Santos, Jeannette Andrade
Philippine Daily Inquirer – www.inquirer.net
Friday, August 20, 2010
MANILA, Philippines—Administrative charges will be filed against a Manila police precinct commander and 13 of his men who were allegedly involved in torturing a robbery suspect, a video footage of which was shown on national television on Tuesday.
“There’s no need for a complainant filing the administrative case. Visual evidence is enough,” Leocadio Santiago, director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), told reporters.
Santiago said the NCRPO would be able to determine the civil and criminal liability of Senior Insp. Joselito Binayug and other policemen involved in two weeks.
“We will be filing a case against Binayug for dereliction of duty but we want something heavier,” Santiago said. “There’s no place for policemen like him in the police force.”
Binayug and his men were relieved after a television news video showed the footage, shot using a cell phone camera, of a naked and bound man, grimacing apparently in great pain on the floor of what was described as the precinct station on Asuncion Street in Tondo, Manila.
The man tugging at the string tied to the genitals of the suspect each time he failed to answer a question was identified as Binayug.
Also on the video were men said to be policemen hitting the suspect while others were looking on.
Binayug has been under restricted custody of Chief Supt. Rodolfo Magtibay, Manila Police District (MPD) director, according to Santiago.
The entire police unit under Binayug will be assigned to a regional training unit while undergoing investigation, the NCRPO chief said.
International issue
The Philippine National Police has formed Task Force Asuncion to probe the alleged torture and determine the appropriate charges against the perpetrators.
“This has become a national issue and even an international issue. We won’t be satisfied filing administrative charges. Criminal charges must also be filed,” Santiago said.
The PNP said the police officers would be investigated if they violated Republic Act No. 9745, or the Anti-Torture Act of 2009.
Binayug denied any knowledge of the video purportedly showing him as the torturer.
“I will face it in a proper forum. Let my counsel speak on my behalf,” he told reporters at the MPD headquarters on UN Avenue. He granted the interview on the condition that there would be no cameras and tape recorders.
Binayug, who has been in the police service for 15 years, said he did not know anything about what was shown on TV when asked about it.
Visibly anxious over the accusation, Binayug paced the floor, sat and stood up from an arm chair as he spoke to reporters. He constantly fiddled with his mobile phones and toyed with a ball cap, alternately removing and wearing it.
He made comments about previous cases he handled in which he figured in shoot-outs with suspected robbers and emphasized that the incidents had complainants.
Reputation destroyed
Binayug seemed to be fighting back tears when he remarked that with his reputation destroyed he was more concerned with his children.
He briefly mentioned that one of his children had been held up near a precinct and told reporters that if they had children, they would know how it felt.
In an attempt to curb the torture of suspects, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said it would probe police personnel facing various charges.
Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo told the Inquirer on Wednesday that the DILG would review records of cases filed against policemen and their service records to determine if any of them would need to be relieved and to undergo a new round of neuropsychiatric evaluation.
“We want to send a message that this kind of behavior and culture will not be tolerated,” Robredo said.
He also said he would move to make the investigations against alleged abuses committed by police personnel “speedier and more credible.”
As interior secretary, Robredo chairs the National Police Commission (Napolcom) which has administrative and operational control over the PNP.
A charge of kidnap for ransom was filed in 2005 by the National Bureau of Investigation against Binayug and five other policemen of the Western Police District (now the Manila Police District).
Binayug, then a police lieutenant, and his men allegedly posed as agents of the NBI and abducted mobile phone store owner Roberto Ong. The businessman was allegedly released after coughing up P18,000 in cash and more than P1 million worth of mobile phones.
But Binayug Thursday said that the only charge he ever faced was an administrative case where he failed to appear before a court for a hearing in a drug case.
Magtibay told the Inquirer that the MPD would be looking into incidents in which Binayug figured in shoot-outs with suspected robbers.
Based on reports, Binayug and his men last figured in an alleged shoot-out with a suspected robber on Aug. 13. Apart from that incident, he engaged suspects in armed encounters in which one of his men or he himself was victimized by robbers.
Best police outpost
The Asuncion precinct, which Binayug leads, was awarded in January by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim as the best police outpost of the year during the MPD anniversary, for at least six instances in which the police captain and his men neutralized suspected robbers in armed encounters.
As part of the investigation, Magtibay said he had directed the Asuncion precinct to surrender its blotter book to the NCRPO task force to establish the time when the video was taken and to determine the identity of the victim.
“We are hoping that other policemen who know something about this come out in the open and describe in detail what happened,” he said.
The MPD director said not all of policemen assigned to the precinct were involved in the actual torture but the policemen were suspended as part of standard operating procedure.
Norm
Magtibay described the alleged torture at the precinct as an isolated case. “We will not allow the few rogues to destroy the institution,” he said.
But the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said mistreatment of criminal suspects appeared to be the norm for law enforcement officers.
“There really is a problem with how the police treat the suspects,” CHR Commissioner Cecilia Quisumbing said. In the first semester of 2010 alone, the CHR recorded “more than 200 cases of police maltreatment.”
The CHR is investigating the torture of the suspected thief caught on video, and is helping identify the suspect.
The Office of the Ombudsman has also formed a task force to probe the criminal culpability of the policemen. This is the first time that the Ombudsman would investigate law enforcement members for violating the Anti-Torture Act. With reports from Kristine L. Alave and Alcuin Papa
Police brutality inside cop HQ to test Anti-Torture Act
By Jeamma E. Sabate
The Manila Bulletin – www.mb.com.ph
Friday, August 20, 2010
The torture of a suspected thief inside a police precinct will put to test the recently passed Anti-Torture Act.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said on Thursday individuals involved should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
“It is time to put this piece of legislation (Anti-Torture Act) to the test and see if it can be an effective tool for greater accountability and diminished impunity,” De Lima added.
The DoJ secretary issued the statement on Thursday as she said more heads will roll in connection with the torture of the suspected thief inside a prison cell in Tondo, Manila, saying the policemen’s immediate superiors should be held liable due to command responsibility.
De Lima said the head of the police station which has jurisdiction over the Manila Police District-Asuncion Community Precinct (PCP) in Tondo, Manila should be asked to explain why he should not be held liable for the torture of the suspect who later died.
“They can always say that they are not present at that time. But investigation should extend as to whether or not the superiors have prior or subsequent knowledge of the torture of whether they exercise due diligence (supervision) on their personnel to avoid such incident of torture or cruelty. If the head or heads of the police station knew the incident only afterwards, he should have taken actions,” she said.
De Lima lauded the Manila Police District (MPD) for relieving the police officers reportedly present during the torture, but said the investigation should also extend to their immediate superiors.
“That’s why we have command responsibility. The victim eventually died, and the imposable penalty depends on the consequent of such act. And since the victim died, although it is not yet determined if he indeed died due (to torture), then the imposable penalty is the maximum which is reclusion perpetua,” she said.
De Lima said she would still determine if the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will conduct parallel investigation. “The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) can conduct its own probe, the PNP should conduct an honest- to- goodness investigation since it involved PNP personnel. Let’s see if there is need for the NBI to conduct a probe baka naman kasi marami, but it may only do more harm than good,” she said.
She also said the case should prosper whether the one who took the video surfaces or not. “They said there is no complainant because the one who took the video has yet to surface. That should not be the case. They can ask the policemen who were supposedly present during the time and conduct the probe,” she said.
De Lima said there is no place in our society for the sickening practice of torture. “There is no place within our law enforcement agencies for individuals capable of engaging in something so despicable," said De Lima.
“It is time to put this piece of legislation to the test and see if it can be an effective tool for greater accountability and diminished impunity,” De Lima added.
Reports said the entire force of a police precinct in Tondo, Manila was relieved last Wednesday and Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay, MPD director, ordered an investigation over a cell- phone video showing one of the police officers torturing a suspect through his sex organ, while the others merely watched.
Magtibay said all 20 members of the Asuncion community precinct were relieved, effective on Wednesday, following the relief on Tuesday of the precinct commander, Senior Inspector Joselito Binayug.
PNP assures probe on alleged video torture
By Francis T. Wakefield
The Manila Bulletin – www.mb.com.ph
Friday, August 20, 2010
The chief of the Philippine National Police-Human Rights Affairs Office on Thursday assured that steps have already been taken to get to the bottom of the alleged torture committed by members of the Manila Police District (MPD) against an alleged robbery suspect.
Police Chief Supt Franklin Bucayu, chief of the PNP Human Rights Affairs Office, said that the PNP headed by Police Director General Jesus A. Versoza does not tolerate such acts and that steps have already been done to investigate and punish those who are allegedly part of it.
Earlier, the National Capital Region Police Office chief, Director Leocadio Santiago ordered the relief of Senior Inspector Joselito Binayug, precinct commander of Asuncion in Tondo and his men following the airing on television news channel ABS-CBN of a cell phone footage showing the alleged torture of a robbery suspect.
Bucayu said that as a result of the incident, the PNP has created “Task Group Asuncion” composed of members of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Intelligence Group (IG) the MPD and the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) to probe the matter.
“The task force is already conducting an investigation regarding the incident. Aside from that, Senior Inspector Joselito Binayog has already been relieved of his post, disarmed and will undergo formal investigation. He has been assigned to the MPD pending the result of the probe,” Bucayu said.
Bucayu said that they are also in favor of enforcing stiffer sanctions against those committing torture on civilians or alleged criminals to prevent them from doing such acts.
He added that since the creation of the PNP’s Human Rights Affairs Office three years ago, they have been doing their best to educate their policemen on how to promote human rights in the enforcement of their job.
“We have not been sleeping on our jobs in enforcing discipline on our policemen. In fact, since the start of the year, we already have three policemen dismissed from service, one suspension and another one under preventive suspension. We will try to improve more on this,” he said.
Fact- finding body formed to probe report of missing farmer
By Freddie G. Lazaro
The Manila Bulletin – www.mb.com.ph
Friday, August 20, 2010
VIGAN CITY — The law enforcement agencies and Ilocos Sur’s local government created a fact finding body to investigate reports of 20 fully armed uniformed men roaming the countryside and a farmer missing in an upland town in the province.
The investigating body is composed of the police represented by Ilocos Sur police director Senior Superintendent Eduardo Dopale, the Philippine Army represented by Colonel Rogelio Migote, Commander of the army’s 50th Infantry Battalion and the provincial government of Ilocos Sur led by Governor Luis Chavit Singson, Vice Governor Deogracias Victor DV B. Savellano, Provincial Board Members Orlino Tesoro and Robert Tudayan.
The factfinding body was sought by provincial board member Tudayan during a privilege speech in a regular session who wanted an investigation into reports of missing farmer identified as Nicolas Ramos, a resident from Barangay Poblacion, Salcedo, Ilocos Sur and the presence of abusive fully – armed uniformed men who claimed themselves as New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Salcedo, Galimuyod and Santa Lucia towns in the province.
Tudayan said that Ramos, an uncle of slain NPA member Randy Ramos, was reported missing since July 24, 2010 and was allegedly kidnapped by the reported armed men wandering in the towns of Salcedo, Galimuyod and Santa Lucia when he went to Barangay Dinaratan, Salcedo town to help his relatives in planting rice.
There was a report that before Ramos went missing, fully armed men were seen near his house.
According to Tudayan, sometime on the third week of July or before Ramos went missing, he received reports from civilians about the presence 20 fully-armed men who identified themselves as NPA rebels roaming around Barangay Baracbac, Galimuyod, Ilocos Sur.
He said that these armed men were reportedly harassing the local residents while soliciting rice and other foods and took what they want from them.
These armed men were also looting fishponds maintained by the local folk near the rivers in Galimuyod town and they also engaged cattle and goat rustling in the towns of Salcedo and Santa Lucia.
“Because of these malicious, unlawful and shocking activities of the armed group, the residents reported it to the commander of the CAFGU unit based in Barangay Bitong, Galimuyod town but to their dismay, their pleas fell on deaf ears,” Tudayan said.
I’m not hiding -- Binayug
by Jerico Javier & Alfred Dalizon
People’s Journal – www.journal.com.ph
Friday, August 20, 2010
“I will face it in a proper forum and let my counsel speak on my behalf.”
Thus said embattled Senior Insp. Joselito Binayug during an interview with selected media personnel yesterday afternoon.
Binayug, who was relieved as commander of the Manila Police District’s Asuncion Community Precinct together with his entire personnel, vehemently denied that he was hiding since the controversial video footage saying he immediately submitted himself for investigation right after the video showing police brutality was shown on ABS-CBN Channel 2 last Tuesday.
Binayug also declined to confirm if he was the policeman in the video footage who was shown torturing a suspected robber.
The controversial cop, who bore a stoic expression, also talked about his experience as a policeman but insisted that all his statement should be off the record.
“Basta ’yun lang po ang statement ko, lahat po ng sasabihin ko sa inyo off the record,” Binayug added.
He also did not allow reporters to write down notes, to use recorders and to take any pictures or video.
Binayug, who was wearing baseball cap, even got mad to a reporter when he saw the latter writing on notebook.
But the police officer later apologized for berating the reporter.
“Pasensiya na, sana naiintindihan n’yo ang kalagayan ko ngayon,” he said.
On the other hand, Philippine National Police chief Director General Jesus A. Verzosa yesterday said Binayug has been placed under 24-hour guard.
Verzosa described the the video as “disgusting” and a “totally unwarranted action” by the policemen involved.
Verzosa added Binayug was also undergoing a formal investigation.
He said that members of the Special Investigation Task Group Asuncion are now digging the records of Binayug amid reports that he is facing a number of criminal and administrative charges.
On orders of Verzosa, Binayug and 21 of his men who were also sacked from their post will be subjected to neuro-psychiatric (NP) evaluation, and will be made to undergo the 30-day Character and Aptitude Development Training (CADET) program at the PNP Values and Leadership School in Subic.
The PNP chief also ordered concerned PNP units and offices to fully cooperate in separate investigations to be conducted by other government agencies and disciplinary bodies regarding the matter.
PNP spokesman Senior Supt. Agrimero A. Cruz Jr. said the task group composed of investigators from the National Capital Region Police Office, the PNP Human Rights Affairs Office and the PNP Internal Affairs Service is interviewing concerned policemen, complainants and witnesses as part of the investigation.
The fact-finding group is headed by NCRPO deputy regional director for administration Chief Supt. Roberto Rongavilla.
No comments:
Post a Comment