‘Shoot-to-kill’ threats

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P.Dizon

This country has a lot of “sayads (misfits),” said a Facebook post. This includes those enforcing the law and those who are being disciplined.

Every now and then, we hear of law enforcers accused of being abusive even as people are also tagged “pasaway” in this time of Covid-19 pandemic. 

Lately, a harsh Facebook post that a Quezon City official insisted news site Rappler quoted "maliciously" as him threatening people with a "shoot-to-kill" policy was not an isolated one.

Quezon City Task Force Disiplina head Rannie Ludovica, in a Facebook post published on August 2, wrote in Filipino: "How can we expect Covid not to increase, look at these irresponsible residents. Dapat sa inyo p.....t yin (You should be killed)."

The following day, he posted: "Starting tomorrow, shoot-to-kill is what will happen to all violators of the MECQ."

The former Quezon City councilor has also posted photos of him "monitoring" protest actions at the University of the Philippines campus. 

In his apology, Ludovica said Rappler "maliciously based his personal Facebook post to claim that the city government gave a formal order."

"My personal Facebook post came out of my dismay that we were going from GCQ to MECQ," he wrote. 

The Rappler report did not actually say the city had such a policy.

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte condemned the posts at a Palace press briefing, calling Ludovica's comments "wrong, inappropriate and irresponsible."

She said, however, that: "While it's wrong and irresponsible, Ludovica apologized. This isn't a city policy, and he promised it wouldn't happen again. I understand where he's coming from as a fellow enforcer."

The Dept. of Interior and Local Government in May urged the public to report police, barangay or LGU officials who may be abusive when enforcing quarantine protocols. The department has also already sounded off on the posts, saying "shoot to kill" is illegal. 

"Some local governments have fines, some of them have imprisonment. You have to look at the ordinance itself. If the penalties imposed are within the bounds of law, then you have to follow that," DILG spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said earlier.

Quezon City does not have a shoot-to-kill policy.

The Quezon City TFD also figured in another controversy earlier in the quarantine when four of its village watchmen and tanods were caught on video beating a man with a stick for not wearing a face mask and not having a quarantine pass.

Of the four enforcers caught on tape, only one was removed from service. 

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Following this, Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday sought a full Senate investigation on the local government units’ enforcement of community quarantine protocols after Ludovica threatened to kill people for violating MECQ protocols.

Hontiveros called on the Senate Committee on Local Government to probe Ludovica and other documented cases of abuse, violence, and illegal acts committed by local officials during the enforcement of quarantine rules.

“This is not the first time that we encountered abuse and violence from local government officials while they are implementing quarantine rules),” Hontiveros said. “In Metro Manila and other areas where community quarantine have been imposed, there have been too many cases of human rights abuse and other illegal acts which we need to stop.”

In filing Senate Resolution No. 489, Hontiveros called for an in-depth probe into the brutal mauling and detention of a fish vendor by members of the task force headed by Ludovica last April for failing to wear a mask.

She noted that cases of abuse by local officials during the pandemic include the locking of violators in dog cages, keeping them under the intense heat of the sun, or subjecting them to acts of torture and sexual violence such as by forcing them to kiss one another.

The senator said these actions were in violation of the “code of conduct and ethical standards for public officials and employees” (Republic Act 6713), as well as the prohibition against cruel and inhuman punishment under the 1987 Constitution itself.

She urged the Quezon City government to “consider replacing Ludovica with someone who can actually help save, not harm, local residents.”

Belmonte said she was giving Ludovica a second chance after he apologized for posting the “shoot-to-kill” threat on his Facebook account.

Hontiveros said local government officials should act in accordance with the law and their mandate as public servants as they deal with their constituents “who are already badly affected by the health and economic impacts of the pandemic.”

“Just a reminder, the virus is our enemy here, not the people. Punitive and militarized responses to a public health pandemic will serve no purpose but to further punish those who are already suffering,” she said.