|
The Philippine National Police will press its legal offensive
against armed members of the local communist movement in support of
military operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Police Chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr.,
in a statement, said he has instructed all regional directors and
directors of the Police’s National Support Units to extend
“maximum Police assistance and cooperation” to the military’s
counter-insurgency operations.
Razon also assured Major General Alexander Yano,
Commanding General of the Philippine Army and incoming AFP chief,
that Police Scene of Crime Operations teams and criminal
investigators will be made available to process and document
military operations against communist insurgents, especially
atrocities committed by the insurgents against civilian and military
targets.
“The investigative aspect of military
counter-insurgency operations is the responsibility of the police
under Executive Order No. 546,” Razon said.
Razon noted that some encounters between
government security forces and New People’s Army insurgents,
especially in the hinterlands, are often not properly documented and
evidence recovered do not usually undergo forensic examination.
“Henceforth, scenes of encounter between New
People’s Army insurgents and government forces will be treated as
crime scenes, and all pieces of evidence recovered will be subjected
to forensic examination,” the Police chief said.
He also underscored the need for all NPA
firearms that are recovered, captured, and surrendered to be
properly documented in the Integrated Ballistics Identification
System to establish the source and history of the firearms.
He noted firearms in the possession of
insurgents may have been involved in previous criminal cases.
Police investigators, he pointed out, are also
responsible for documenting every insurgency-related incident and
for the filing of appropriate cases in court, as warranted by
evidence.
Executive order 546 outlines the respective
roles and responsibilities of the military and Police, as well as
local governments in counter-insurgency and inter-security
operations against the communists.
-- Maricel V. Cruz
|
