PNP: Report on violent rally dispersal out next week

MANILA, Philippines - Police probers have been given 12 days to complete their investigation on the violent dispersal of a rally in front of the United States embassy in Manila last week.

Director Benjamin Magalong, Philippine National Police (PNP) deputy chief for operations, ordered the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to wrap up its probe by Nov. 4.

The PNP earlier said the police officers involved in the incident would be held accountable if maximum tolerance was not observed.

“We expect the (investigation) report on Nov. 4,” Magalong said.

A police vehicle driven by Police Officer 3 Franklin Kho plowed through dozens of protesters and appeared to run over some people when they tried to get near the embassy gate, videos of the incident showed.

Scores of rallyists and police officers were hurt during the melee.

Kho and other police personnel involved in the dispersal are in the custody of the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) holding center, Magalong said.

An anti-US group staged a rally in front of Camp Crame in Quezon City yesterday to denounce police brutality during the incident.

They also sought the creation of an independent fact-finding committee, led by President Duterte, PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa and the Department of Justice, to look into the incident.

They said they would not attend the CIDG hearing set for Monday.

Operational lapses

The Manila Police District (MPD) committed several operational lapses during the dispersal of anti-US protesters, an official said yesterday.

NCRPO director Chief Superintendent Oscar Albayalde said these lapses should be remedied to prevent a repeat of a similar incident in the future.

“Definitely, we observed several violations of standard operating procedures by the MPD,” Albayalde said.

At least 80 MPD members were relieved over the incident.

Albayalde said the MPD intelligence unit failed to monitor and notify the Tactical Operations Center regarding the activities of the protesters.

“Had the intelligence unit of the MPD forwarded the number of marchers, we could have prepared a large anti-riot police contingent so they could not overpower us,” the NCRPO chief said.