LETTERS FROM THE AGNO
March L.
Fianza
Like the unseen and unstoppable coronavirus,
the news to defund the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed
Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) resonated after lawmakers in the House and Senate were
called “stupid” by the task force’s spokesman Lt. General Antonio Parlade Jr.
People of course, describe the senators and congressmen with many unacceptable labels and the lawmakers know that, but police and military officials should not be antagonizing them if their operational budget is ready to be defunded.
Although the senators have yet to discuss what to do with the P19.2 billion budget of NTF-ELCAC, there was information that 15 senators already signed a resolution denouncing Parlade’s actions and unpleasant comment.
The spokesman’s unsavory remark came as a result of a strong suggestion by members of both chambers in congress to realign the agency’s budget after community pantry organizers posted raw information on social media that they were being red-tagged and profiled by unidentified persons.
It is hard to grasp the act of profiling and red tagging organizers of community pantries when people are striving to have food for their families amid the pandemic.
What matters is that people in the spirit of “bayanihan” want to provide food for the needy. On the other hand, the NTF-ELCAC with their huge “intel funds” certainly have acceptable means to profile suspects, that is, if they really have intelligence.
Surely a few thousand pesos spent on goodies donated to a chosen community pantry would not hurt the NTF-ELCAC and would certainly make the initiative work better.
But instead of encouraging the good deed, our police and military men forgot to analyze and process the situation which are things that they usually do with “intel info,” before making pointless actions that made them lose the hearts and minds of the public.
***
The final decision by the jury of a court that convicted the former police officer who was charged for murdering an African-American in Minneapolis, Minnesota in May last year grabbed the headlines, diverting the attention of the world from COVID-19 news two weeks ago.
Former police officer Derek Chauvin was not the one on trial in the recently concluded court case drama over the killing of African-American George Floyd but the police system. Now after the guilty verdict, it needs to reform and the debate continues.
A few weeks after African-American died under the knee of the white police officer, a majority of the city council vowed to defund the police. This was in response to protest calls to dismantle the city’s police department and create a public safety system.
However, the prosecution team led by the Attorney General of Minnesota would not call the guilty verdict as justice, saying that justice implies true restoration which is characterized by accountability, the first step towards justice.
He said, it is the criminal justice system that is on trial as well, saying further that the guilty verdict marks a point beyond policing which should have consequences for all police actions all over, not only in the U.S.A.
There is accountability in police work such that the excessive use of force is anti-police and in the long run harms policing as an occupation. How many times have we seen excessive use of force by the police in the Philippines?
Take the case of Kian who was allegedly killed by cops in 2017, and the victims in the implementation of the “tokhang” on drugs. These cases call for a serious study about who are recruited into the police organization.
Police reform has to make sure that trigger-happy, short-tempered, nervous and rigid personalities are disqualified from entry. By the way, I heard that Benguet Prosecutor Andres Gondayao who was teaching Criminology subjects in one of the schools asked his students why they like to become cops instead of nurses.
Yes, the police who killed the African-American under his knee should not have been a cop in the first place. Through his records, the prosecution learned that he had 17 disciplinary cases that should have led to his exit from the police force.
The police who was guilty for murder is not the system but became a murderer because of the system. The system that turns cops into murderers will still be there. It has to reform before another bad cop emerges.
People of course, describe the senators and congressmen with many unacceptable labels and the lawmakers know that, but police and military officials should not be antagonizing them if their operational budget is ready to be defunded.
Although the senators have yet to discuss what to do with the P19.2 billion budget of NTF-ELCAC, there was information that 15 senators already signed a resolution denouncing Parlade’s actions and unpleasant comment.
The spokesman’s unsavory remark came as a result of a strong suggestion by members of both chambers in congress to realign the agency’s budget after community pantry organizers posted raw information on social media that they were being red-tagged and profiled by unidentified persons.
It is hard to grasp the act of profiling and red tagging organizers of community pantries when people are striving to have food for their families amid the pandemic.
What matters is that people in the spirit of “bayanihan” want to provide food for the needy. On the other hand, the NTF-ELCAC with their huge “intel funds” certainly have acceptable means to profile suspects, that is, if they really have intelligence.
Surely a few thousand pesos spent on goodies donated to a chosen community pantry would not hurt the NTF-ELCAC and would certainly make the initiative work better.
But instead of encouraging the good deed, our police and military men forgot to analyze and process the situation which are things that they usually do with “intel info,” before making pointless actions that made them lose the hearts and minds of the public.
***
The final decision by the jury of a court that convicted the former police officer who was charged for murdering an African-American in Minneapolis, Minnesota in May last year grabbed the headlines, diverting the attention of the world from COVID-19 news two weeks ago.
Former police officer Derek Chauvin was not the one on trial in the recently concluded court case drama over the killing of African-American George Floyd but the police system. Now after the guilty verdict, it needs to reform and the debate continues.
A few weeks after African-American died under the knee of the white police officer, a majority of the city council vowed to defund the police. This was in response to protest calls to dismantle the city’s police department and create a public safety system.
However, the prosecution team led by the Attorney General of Minnesota would not call the guilty verdict as justice, saying that justice implies true restoration which is characterized by accountability, the first step towards justice.
He said, it is the criminal justice system that is on trial as well, saying further that the guilty verdict marks a point beyond policing which should have consequences for all police actions all over, not only in the U.S.A.
There is accountability in police work such that the excessive use of force is anti-police and in the long run harms policing as an occupation. How many times have we seen excessive use of force by the police in the Philippines?
Take the case of Kian who was allegedly killed by cops in 2017, and the victims in the implementation of the “tokhang” on drugs. These cases call for a serious study about who are recruited into the police organization.
Police reform has to make sure that trigger-happy, short-tempered, nervous and rigid personalities are disqualified from entry. By the way, I heard that Benguet Prosecutor Andres Gondayao who was teaching Criminology subjects in one of the schools asked his students why they like to become cops instead of nurses.
Yes, the police who killed the African-American under his knee should not have been a cop in the first place. Through his records, the prosecution learned that he had 17 disciplinary cases that should have led to his exit from the police force.
The police who was guilty for murder is not the system but became a murderer because of the system. The system that turns cops into murderers will still be there. It has to reform before another bad cop emerges.
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