Former Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief and now Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa has suggested for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to conduct training on rules on engagement for military personnel, specifically to the auxiliary members of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU).
The chairman of Senate Committee on Public Order made the proposal amid the viral video of a CAFGU auxiliary member who fatally shot a man who allegedly ran amok and the latter’s father in Negros Occidental.
“’Yung rules of engagement nila with confronting ‘yung mga lasing na mga nag-aamok, dapat alam niya.”
“Hindi niya alam ‘yung rules of engagement [of the PNP] kasi ang CAFGU ay under the military, ‘di ba? ‘Yung rules of engagement nila with confronting ‘yung mga lasing na mga nag-aamok, dapat alam niya,” dela Rosa, an alumnus of the Philippine Military Academy, said.
“Tanungin ko siguro ‘yung Armed Forces, particularly ‘yung Philippine Army unit handling the CAFGU kung pwede ba nilang isama sa training nila ‘yung rules and procedure pagdating sa confronting ‘yung mga amok, para ma-improve ‘yung kanilang response sa gano’ng klaseng sitwasyon. Hindi ‘yung baril ng baril lang kaagad. At tsaka ‘yung hindi dapat barilin, idadamay pa, binabaril pa. So dapat matuto sila,” the legislator added.
The lawmaker stressed the need to train CAFGU members on the rules of engagement as this particular unit of the AFP is deployed in different far-flung communities where police officers are not present.
The CAFGU auxiliary member who was involved in the incident reportedly claimed that he defended himself after the victims allegedly threatened him with a bolo–a large single-edged knife commonly used in Filipino households.
Citing his years of experience in the PNP, the senator explained that under the Police Operational Procedure, the victims should have been given a warning shot before the CAFGU auxiliary member resorted to firing his gun against the supposed offenders.
“Dapat kung threatened na ‘yung kanyang sarili, binaril niya sa paa or limb or somewhere na ma-immobilize lang at hindi mamatay agad.”
“Dapat warning shot muna, ‘di ba? Baka mamaya matakot ‘yung nagdala ng bolo. Dapat hindi niya binaril kaagad. Kung tumuloy, eh dapat kung threatened na ‘yung kanyang sarili, binaril niya sa paa or limb or somewhere na ma-immobilize lang at hindi mamatay agad. So dapat gano’n ang ginawa niya,” he said.
For Dela Rosa, there is no justification for the shooting of the father of the man who was allegedly running amok.
“Ang ‘di niya ma-justify doon ‘yung pagbaril niya doon sa tatay na lumapit lang ‘yung tatay, wala namang threat, wala namang kutsilyo ang tatay, ‘di ba? Bakit niya pa pinatay ‘yung tatay, dinamay pa niya? ‘Yun ang talagang unjustified,” he concluded.
