Roxas suggests body cams for PNP, though already in the works
MANILA, Philippines — At the nationally televised debate on Sunday night, senatorial candidate Mar Roxas addressed a mother whose son was allegedly shot dead while handcuffed in a police operation and suggested that cops should be wearing body cameras.
"Body cam and dash cam, ibig sabihin lahat ng police, magkakarooon ng body camera para lahat ng operasyon nila ay marerekord," Roxas said on "Harapan 2019" aired on ABS-CBN.
"Sa isang malininaw na makilos nandyan ang teknolohiya, murang mura, pwedeng bilhin," he added.
Roxas, however, did not mention during his 1-minute allotted turn that the Philippine National Police's purchase of body-worn cameras is already ongoing. His proposal then will already have been carried out if he takes his seat in the upper house.
Director General Oscar Albayalde said in November last year that while more than 12,000 pieces of body cameras are still to be bought, there were already a few stations equipped by local officials' donations.
Congress in 2017 earmarked P334 million for the PNP in 2018 for body cameras early last year, but the procurement of which was delayed for six months. A police spokesperson attributed the delay to shifting technical requirements.
A senator, however, already criticized the police force early in 2018 for prioritizing the acquisition of bomb-sniffing dogs over body cameras that could have addressed the rising rate of killings in the anti-drug campaign.
President Rodrigo Duterte himself pushed for the purchase of body cameras amid international criticisms over the deadly execution of the police's war on drugs, attributed for the killing of thousands of suspected drug users and dealers without trial. But last week Duterte vowed that a bloodier war on drugs will be launched this year.
Meanwhile, Roxas' suggestion for police cars to be fitted with dashboard cameras, or dash cams, may have some basis to become a policy.
Evidence technician and crime scene investigator Hillary Romig argued that dash cams do not only enhance cops' safety and reduce their legal liability during confrontational situations, the equipment also provides transparency and improves conviction rates by providing additional evidence.
Writing for Police One, Romig wrote that footage from a dash cam "video footage can help to corroborate a civilian complaint or vindicate an untrue version of events."
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