President Rodrigo Duterte is eyeing to arm police personnel with rubber batons which can “subdue the person resisting arrest or the criminal,” following the reported use of “yantok” or rattan sticks to enforce physical distancing.
Duterte wondered why the practice of using the “not-so-lethal weapon” was stopped which should be the “first line of defense” of the police to avoid struggle with persons showing aggression.
“You know, when a person resists arrest and he becomes violent, the first impulse of a police without a baton is to hold his gun. He might not draw it but he holds his gun, ready for action,” he explained.
He stated that he might bring back the use of rubberized batons, but the rattan “will also suffice” in the meantime.
“We’ll look for the money next year. I’ll buy you the baton and the baton will be gamitin ‘yung baton, huwag ‘yung baril (I’ll buy you the baton and the baton will be used, not the gun),” he promised.
Duterte also emphasized that it is the duty and responsibility of persons who have committed something wrong to “surrender peacefully.”
“Now, if you do not submit to the authority of the law which is personified by the police, puwede kang hulihin talaga (you can really be caught) and make an arrest. In making an arrest, you are supposed to be bodily carried to the police van or talagang hawakan ka (or be handled physically),” he added. – PTV News Online
