21 CL cops atone for ‘sins’

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga — Twenty-one Central Luzon policemen facing administrative cases for various infractions, literally bore their crosses as they re-enacted the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) along a three-kilometer stretch here on Good Friday.

The penitent policemen alternately carried a wooden cross along the 14 stations of the Via Crucis for nearly four hours.

Chief Superintendent Rowland Albano, regional police director, thought of the Via Crucis as a "sacrificial activity" for the erring policemen who face suspension or dismissal for various offenses such as absence without official leave (AWOL).

Albano himself took his turn to carry the wooden cross as an act of repentance for what he described as some lapses, unintentional though, that he had committed in dealing with his men.

The re-enactment of the Way of the Cross was a first in the history of Camp Olivas, the headquarters of the Region 3 (Central Luzon) police command. — Ric Sapnu