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Project Awesome Philippines — the same group behind the act involving a saxophone-playing man dressed as a Metro Rail Transit (MRT) security guard — is behind the “Diaper Patrol” social experiment. The group has gotten flak from the Philippine National Police (PNP) for the stunt.
READ: Project Awesome PH hits right note with ‘MRT guard’ playing sax
Photos of men in adult diapers and no pants caused an uproar among netizens, especially since they wore shirts that that looked like something that the PNP personnel would wear.
The photos were taken by Tony Ahn, who happened to run into the said men.
READ: Men on ‘Diaper Patrol’ during Papal visit were part of social experiment
The Singapore-based The Straits Times initially ran a story wherein its Philippine correspondent wrote: “Some 27,000 policemen, a few seen wearing adult diapers without their pants on, were on hand to control the crowd.” The article has since been edited, though. However, there was no editor’s note explaining the changes made.
READ: SG-based newspaper thinks ‘Diaper Patrol’ is for real!
“In a text message, PNP spokesman and Senior Supt. Wilben Mayor clarified the men in the photos were indeed not policemen,” reports ABS-CBNnews.com.
Mayor stated in the text message: “We do not do experiments like that, as I already stated before, policemen do not wear diapers. It is an unfair portrayal of policemen who worked hard under the sun and rain to ensure the safety of the Pope and the devotees who came to see His Holiness.”
Mayor added: “With all the praises from all walks of life and the Media for the Police as a result of the successful event of the Pope’s visit, may I request that you focus on the positive side rather than the negative.”
When asked if the prankster will be facing sanctions, Mayor said: “We devote more of our time to serve and protect our people.”
The report noted: “Meanwhile, Project Awesome Philippines’ Paul Agabin, who is identified as the one who hatched the “Diaper Patrol” experiment, apologized for the ‘social experiment’ but said its purpose was attained.”
Agabin said, “We would like to apologize to the public for what happened. It’s not our intention to harm the image of the police. And because of this crowd reaction, we advise the government to increase the portalets for major Philippine events as 12 portalets can’t accommodate 6 million Filipinos including the officers.”
Photo: Tony Ahn (Facebook)
