MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police is standing behind the 30 cops facing murder complaints before the Department of Justice in connection to the Bloody Sunday raids where nine activists were killed.
Nine Calabarzon-based labor and human rights activists were shot and killed in what came to be known as the Bloody Sunday raids as police and military personnel implemented search warrants on March 7, 2021. The law enforcement said that all nine violently resisted arrest, but the National Bureau of Investigation eventually found sufficient evidence to file murder raps against 34 officers linked to the raids.
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At a press briefing Monday morning, Police Gen. Rodolfo Azurin said that the PNP would be extending assistance to the 30 cops.
"Right now we have 30 police officers being charged of a crime they have committed in performing their jobs...We are now accounting for these police officers because we really need to help them. Because to my mind, they were just performing their role as police officers, so we don't know what [the NBI] saw that they had to file cases," Azurin said in mixed Filipino and English.
The PNP chief also called on past police officials, especially those who were in the service at the time the raids happened, to issue voluntary statements of support for the respondent cops. Past PNP chiefs have held that the operation was legitimate as the officers of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group acted on orders of the court to serve a search warrant for illegal firearms.
"We are waiting for support and encouragement from our past leaders for these 30 police officers who are being charged. Our police officers were only doing their job. They showed how dedicated they were to their duty, and we hope our past PNP leaders can support them," he said.
His statement of support for the alleged cop-killers came minutes after he claimed that the PNP "values the preservation of human life."
"Others insinuate that someone always has to die. But I believe that when a criminal is killed, we just ended their suffering in that very instant. But when we start investigating, filing cases, arresting the criminals, and place them behind bars, if they still have 30 years to live in this world, they will regret their crimes against the people when they wake up."
That pronouncement was in response to Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, himself a former PNP chief, who said earlier that the current law enforcement administration lacks teeth. This, he said, is emboldening criminals to take to the streets once more amid the recent spate of kidnappings in Metro Manila.
Azurin made no mention of the nine activists killed in the raids.
Earlier in July 2021, forensic pathologist Racquel Fortun said her autopsy examinations on the victims found that each one "had shots in the chest [and were] shot to be killed."
“Each case deserves a homicide investigation,” she also said, adding that the cases were all of “violent deaths.”