Two police personnel were immediately relieved from their posts after they allegedly harassed three local journalists covering a land dispute story in Pastrana, Leyte last Friday, July 14.
The police personnel were identified as Staff Sergeant Rhea May Baleos and Staff Sergeant Ver Baleos who are facing administrative charges.
They have been reassigned to the provincial police headquarters, and have been ordered to surrender their firearms and to undergo gunpowder test to determine if they fired their weapons during the incident.
“Lahat po ‘yun pati ‘yung mga na-involve na pulis doon ay dinisarmahan na rin po para i-check kung ang kanilang mga baril ay napaputok,” Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said.
“Hintayin natin ang resulta but we want to again reiterate na immediately upon learning of the incident ay umakto kaagad ang regional director po roon at under restrictive custody na po doon ‘yung dalawang pulis na identified with their teams na present po roon sa insidente na ‘yun,” she added.
The PNP said they are not tolerating acts of harassment, particularly when police personnel are involved.
“Well ang lagi nating paalala sa ating pulis ay yung doctrine of maximum tolerance. Alam natin na sa mga ganitong insidente ay hindi maiiwasan na ‘yung mga ibang partido involved ay humihingi ng tulong sa mga kasamahan natin sa media at hindi natin ipinagbabawal ‘yun,” Fajardo said.
“So yung naging reaksiyon ng pulis natin doon na sinasabing siya ay kinunan ng video at sa kanyang pananaw ay hindi ‘yun tama, but just the same we have to also consider na ang pulis ay public figure,” she continued.
In a separate statement, the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) condemned the incident, saying that the act of the involved police personnel against reporters conducting an interview “is totally uncalled for, unnecessary and amounted to abuse of authority and power.”
“Rest assured that the PTFoMS shall continue to monitor this incident. May I also remind our law enforcers that the Marcos administration and the PNP leadership would not tolerate any abuse committed against any of our citizens, particularly the members of the press,” PTFoMS Executive Director Paul Gutierrez said. – with reports from Patrick de Jesus-ag
