(File photo)
MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday appealed to American lawmakers to specifically cite accusations of human rights violations hurled against the institution.
"Sana ibigay sa atin kung ano yung mga kasong sinasabi nilang alleged violation of human rights para magkaroon din naman ng poder ang PNP at (I hope they will tell us the cases of alleged violation of human rights that they claim in order for the PNP) and other agencies of the Philippine government to address these concerns," said PNP spokesperson, Col. Jean Fajardo, in a press briefing at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
This came after the US House of Representatives moved to limit assistance to the PNP over the issue.
Pennsylvania Rep. Susan Wild has pushed for an amendment to the US National Defense Authorization Act for 2023 which will limit the aid that is being given to PNP until it complies with "human rights requirements."
Fajardo described the move as unfortunate, stressing that the police force has been compliant with human rights protection principles in the conduct of operations.
While the PNP has no direct information on what these accusations are about, she said the force is open to any investigation if there are wrongdoings committed by its personnel.
“In fact, we are constantly coordinating with the DOJ (Department of Justice) regarding the cases they are probing, especially on anti-illegal drug operations, which we assume they (US House of Representatives) are calling as alleged violations of human rights. We strongly condemn any violation of human rights and in fact, the PNP is the number one advocate and defendant of human rights,” she added.
The US government has been extending assistance to the PNP in terms of training, particularly in the field of investigation, drug enforcement, anti-child trafficking, among others.
“We have been given a grant by the US government for a long time and in fact from June 2016 to 2021 we have already received trainings of around 655 from the US government participated by around 11,000 and for 2022 we have completed 115 courses on offer, what we call in-country training is done here. The others are done in Thailand and other places and for the remaining months of 2022 there are still about 17 courses that we expect to continue,” she added. (PNA)
