(Eagle News) — The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) clarified on Thursday, June 14, that the recently announced ban on the police’s presentation of arrested suspects to the media was not a new directive.
NCRPO chief Guillermo Eleazar said in an interview with Net 25’s Sa Ganang Mamamayan that Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde only ordered his men to comply with a 10-year-old memorandum implemented since 2008, under then-PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa.
“Hindi siya [referring to Albayalde] nagbibigay ng bagong guidelines. Kumbaga, yung mga dati lang iniimplement niya,” he said.
He said Albayalde decided to re-implement the order after considering the concerns of human rights advocates about the basic rights of the arrested suspects and their relatives, such as rights to privacy and due process of the law.
According to Eleazar, instead of presenting suspects in a “firing squad” manner, the PNP will provide the media with mugshots and records of actual operations.
He added the media were also still allowed to shoot action videos and request for interviews with the arrested suspects.
“Maganda naman ‘yun [referring to the directive] dahil ‘yun naman po ay pinag-aralan before and so we respect the wisdom of the leadership— yung pagbabalik po nitong implementasyong ito…Ito’y maganda rin para sa karapatan ng bawat lahat,” he said.