The heinous killings of civilians by Philippine National Police personnel may be more frequent than the government wants to admit, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said.
Police M/Sgt. Hensie Zinampan was caught on video killing 52-year-old Lilybeth Valdez while under the influence of alcohol.
“Kapag ka ganyang buhay ng tao ang pinag-uusapan, hindi pwedeng isolated. Ito’y nakuhanan lang ng video… Eh paano ‘yung mga hindi nakuhanan ng video?” DILG Undersecretary Martin Diño said in an interview with ONE News yesterday.
“Kaya siguro, tanggapin natin na talagang dapat dito, bantayan talaga nang husto itong ating kapulisan.”
The PNP is an agency directly under the DILG.
According to former Vice President Jejomar Binay in the Rappler report, Zinampan’s case is far from isolated, especially since some policemen now have a “pattern of abuse and murderous behavior,” something that seems to be getting worse.
“Policemen are not ordinary government workers. They are given guns to protect law-abiding citizens from criminals,” Binay said in a tweet.
“Ang baril ay hindi dapat ginagamit upang pumatay ng inosenteng mamamayan. Dapat ang mga kriminal ang takot sa pulis, hindi ang taumbayan.”
Earlier, PNP chief Police Gen. Guillermo Elazar filed a criminal and administrative complaint against Zinampan.
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It even led to the PNP chief confronting the suspect face to face, to the point of scolding, shaking, and shouting at Zinampan.
“Humihingi po ako ng dispensa sa ating kababayan kung nadala tayo ng emosyon,” said Eleazar.
“Pero itong si Police Master Sergeant Hensie Zinampan ay hindi na karapat-dapat na manatili pa sa ating institusyon.”
Just yesterday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that “few in the PNP are stupid” compared to “thousands of police professionals.” He said what Zinampan did was “exemption to the rule.”
“Definitely, that is not the rule. That is the exemption to the rule. Wala po tayong magagawa. Kahit na anong organization, may paisa-isang mga bugok,” said Roque.
“Pero, please, we have hundreds of thousands in the ranks of our policemen. And we hear of one or two cases of this nature… Hindi po totoo na malawakang maraming pulis [na ganito].”
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