That’s “harsh.”
That’s what Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said about accusations made by a woman’s rights group which said that the PNP sexually abuses female suspects or female relatives of suspects.
Albayalde is commenting on the claim made by the Coalition Against Trafficking In Women – Asia Pacific last week. The group said it has documented 33 sexual abuse cases committed by the police against women and that such abuses were made in exchange for suspects’ freedom.
The Philippine Star reported that almost 16 cases were rape while seven were acts of lasciviousness.
Kultura ng “palit-puri” sa PNP, mariing itinanggi ni PNP chief Albayalde | ulat ni @zhandercayabyab pic.twitter.com/c5b8uiJUlq
— DZMM TeleRadyo (@DZMMTeleRadyo) November 5, 2018
Many of the victims were alleged drug suspects, relatives of drug suspects, or were involved during drug-related operations.
The accusation came up after a rookie policeman named Eduardo Valencia was arrested last week for allegedly raping the 15-year-old daughter of two drug suspects. In a report posted by GMA News, Valencia denied the allegation but said that such occurrences were “not new.”
In a press briefing today, Albayalde admitted that there are some cases of sexual advancements from members of the PNP but denied that it’s rampant.
He was quoted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer saying: “There are probably sexual advancements, but for them to say it’s rampant I think that’s too harsh to say. If you say that, that’s totally unfair to the Philippine National Police.”
He also said Valencia’s case was “isolated” and that his behavior “does not reflect… the general behavior and discipline that we have in PNP.”
Reader Interactions