MANILA — Senators pressed the Philippine National Police to crack down on local politicians’ use of bodyguards who purportedly carry unlicensed firearms, which, they said, has been one of the root causes of the proliferation of political violence in the countryside.
At the hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs on Aug. 14, senators Ronald dela Rosa and Raffy Tulfo also vowed to push for an amendment of the Local Government Code to remove the authority of local elective officials over their local police.
“This is a lesson to all units: check on your local officials, not only mayors — congressmen, councilors — who maintain a throng of bodyguards who are civilians because these are already private armed groups,” Dela Rosa told PNP officials.
Dela Rosa issued the reminder as he presided over the hearing on the unsolved murder of Aparri, Cagayan Vice Mayor Rommel Alameda, and five others at a checkpoint in Bagabag town in Nueva Vizcaya on Feb. 19.
At the hearing, senators uncovered that the local police tolerated a team of civilian bodyguards of Aparri Mayor Bryan Dale Chan who openly carried firearms issued to local police personnel.
“Whenever these civilians are allowed to carry guns, they now feel most powerful and would act like goons only because their boss is the [local official],” he said.
The committee flashed amateur photos of one of Chan’s bodyguards carrying an armalite rifle while walking on the premises of the town hall in Aparri.
Chan admitted that the person in the photo was his security aide, but claimed that the firearm belonged to an enlisted police officer who asked the bodyguard to hold it for him temporarily.
Dela Rosa, a former PNP chief, reminded police officers that civilians, without a special permit, cannot be allowed to carry firearms even if they are serving as bodyguards of local officials. (Melvin Gascon © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
