They’ve got his back.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Oscar Albayalde see nothing wrong with how PNP National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Major General Guillermo Eleazar manhandled an alleged crooked cop.
Albayalde defended Eleazar today on GMA News’ Unang Balita and said in Filipino and English: “Sometimes, you just can’t avoid having outbursts when you’re furious. It’s like spanking our children in our home.”
He was responding to concerns about how Eleazar collared and angrily held Police Corporal Marlo Siblao Quibete’s head after the latter was nabbed for allegedly taking bribes. The PNP-NCRPO chief’s outburst was caught by the cameras for several media outlets and has since gone viral.
The footage shocked some Filipinos but like Albayalde, Duterte was all for the roughing up.
“Tell Eleazar, [what he did] was okay. So what if he did that?” the president said in a speech in Malacañang yesterday. “Tell him I’ve got his back.”
Eleazar apologized yesterday, however, he said that Quibete deserved it for tarnishing the reputation of the police force.
“I’m apologizing to you if it appeared that I was not able to control my emotions but these people, there’s no place for them [in the police force],” he said in a press conference.
“I didn’t hit him on the chest. I didn’t pull his hair. I pulled his collar, I made him face me, and I pointed my finger at him. That’s just right. He deserved that.”
“These cops, we can’t baby them but we can’t hurt them either,” Eleazar added.
