Sending corrupt cops to war-torn Mindanao has been standard practice for the administration of Rodrigo Duterte — a practice local officials are fast becoming fed up with.
The latest example featured two Mandaluyong City cops who were caught in a viral video excessively beating a young male apprehended for drinking outside past curfew with a nightstick. According to a report on GMA News, he was hit 17 times by police officer Jose Tandog, while fellow officer Chito Villanueva stood by watching.
Police spokesperson Dionardo Carlos said that aside from facing administrative — and potential criminal charges — police general Ronald dela Rosa had asked for the erring cops to be sent to Marawi.
“So that they could show their bravery,” Carlos said.
This was similar to an order dela Rosa’s boss, Duterte, gave 400 cops facing charges of corruption and other abuses last February. After being asked to clean up water lilies from the Pasig River, the cops were publicly berated by the president himself before being deployed to the conflict areas of Basilan and Sulu in Mindanao.
Zia Alonto Adiong, a local government official of the Administrative Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the Marawi crisis committee head, however, is not happy about this method of police cleansing.
He took to Twitter last night to vent his frustrations over the deployment of the Mandaluyong cops to the war zone.
“Erring cops should be sued,” he said. “What they need is to face accountability, not temporary punishment.”
Erring cops should be sued with administrative case. What they need is to face accountability not temporary punishment.
— Zia Alonto Adiong (@ZeeAlontoAdiong) July 5, 2017
Adiong said that he finds moving abusive cops to Marawi was “offensive” and shows the insensitivity of the leadership of the national police force.
It’s quite offensive to treat us like trashbin for abusive cops. And to use the Marawi Seige as a punishment shows insensitivity.
— Zia Alonto Adiong (@ZeeAlontoAdiong) July 5, 2017
He said in Filipino that Mindanao should not be treated as a “trash bin for the abusive and erring cops of Metro Manila.”
Hindi po tayo dito basurahan para sa mga abosado at tiwaling pulis ng Metro Manila.
— Zia Alonto Adiong (@ZeeAlontoAdiong) July 5, 2017
Dela Rosa responded to the comments, but stood by his decision to send cops to the war zone.
“While their case is ongoing, we place them there to distance them from their comfort zone,” he was quoted as saying in CNN Philippines.
He explained that sending cops to war zones was more about giving them second chances than treating Marawi like a “trash bin.”
“If they try to be abusive here, their fellow cops would beat them,” dela Rosa said.
This week marks the sixth week of the armed conflict between government troops and the IS-linked Maute group. More than 400 people have been killed in the fighting so far.
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