DAVAO CITY (June 14) — Effective immediately, the Philippine National Police will stop presenting suspects to the members of the press, in compliance to a 10-year old memorandum which prohibits the act.
On Wednesday, June 13, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director Oscar Abayalde cited a memorandum issued in 2008 which prohibits the presentation of suspects to the members of the press for photo opportunity.
Albayalde, however, admitted he was not aware that such memo exists until recently.
Yesterday, he said the PNP is now reinstating its implementation, which means, it must be followed.
“I can recall now na nangyari yan noon, when the memorandum came out, when the policy came out, talagang in-implement yan. I don’t know, I really don’t know when it came back, so we went back to our documents, lumabas nga yon . So now, we’re trying to, we will implement it again, our policy way back 2008,” Albayalde sressed.
While the rule prohibits presenting suspects openly, it allows public disclosure of suspects’ mug shots when booked or photos of the so-called “perp walk” while they are processed by PNP as well as the details of their arrest.
Albayalde said it is in the public’s interest to see arrested suspects but said the memorandum will cover suspects regardless of the crime they have committed.
“It will apply to all, whether maliit, malaki , but we will assure the public that we will inform the public. At least mapakita yung mukha sa publiko, so that sabi ko nga kung meron pang nabiktima yung publiko at gusto nilang makapag-file ng complaint,” he added.
It some cases, Abayalde noted, the feature of the suspects will be shown for other victims to come out and if needed in the case.-ezc/NewsLine.ph
