Akbayan on the Ill-fated Hostage Taking Incident at the Quirino Grandstand and
the Necessary Reformation of the Police Force
Together with the Filipino people, Akbayan party condemns in the strongest
terms possible the ill-fated hostage-taking incident perpetuated by a former
Philippine National Police officer at the Quirino Granstand which caused the
death of 11 tourist hostages. We join the nation as we mourn their tragic
deaths and as we offer our deepest condolences to the families of the
victims as well as to the Hong Kong community, which is closely monitoring
the developments of this horrific incident.
Truly, this is a sad day for us as a country and as a people. Beyond the
shame to our national pride and image in the eyes of the international
community, the act is reprehensible and heartbreaking as it resulted in the
loss of innocent lives. There is no reason in the world that could be used
to justify such brutal act of lawlessness and violence.
However, while we strongly denounce this heinous act of violence against
innocent people, we call for sobriety and clarity. Let us not further
clutter the issue by joining those that want to use this incident to cause
further chaos and confusion or moreover, by those that will immediately
benefit from such, as they wash their hands of any culpability and
negligence with regards to the hostage incident.
Hence, we call on President Benigno Simeon Aquino III and Department of
Interior and Local Government Secretary Jessie Robredo to immediately call
for a swift, comprehensive and impartial investigation of the incident. We
call on the Philippine National Police Chief Director General Jesus Verzosa
to exercise due discretion and judiciousness by putting all police personnel
involved in the assault in preventive suspension so as not to interfere in
whatever way in the investigation of the case.
Furthermore, we call on the government to comprehensively review the
country’s security program with the end view of implementing significant
reforms that will fully professionalize our security forces particularly our
national police. The recent hostage-taking event and how it was handled
together with the recent controversy surrounding the reported cases of
torture as practiced by alleged members of the police must be seen as grave
consequences of how our police system works, or is not working.
The government can start this process in the immediate, by enhancing police
accountability, and in the strategic, by implementing institutional reforms...
This must be done in partnership with the local government, the Department
of Justice, the Commission on Human Rights and other active stakeholders to
achieve concrete changes not only in terms of professionalism,
responsiveness and accountability but also of its respect, protection and
promotion of human rights to its constituents.
Lastly, we call on the media and the police sector to establish clear and
professional guidelines on how to harmonize their functions as they perform
their respective roles. We believe, despite clashing institutional goals and
values, they are mutually dependent and must cooperate to inform the public
and hold government accountable over security policies. (end it)
Akbayan
24 August 2010