CHR workers get police protection

The Philippine National Police yesterday assured the workers of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) of their personal safety and security, more particularly during the conduct of field investigations and other official activities.

The assurance was made by PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa in response to a request by CHR Chairman Leila de Lima for security
details for several CHR teams conducting various human rights-related investigations in connection with the infamous Ampatuan massacre in Maguindanao.

Verzosa has directed Senior Supt. Franklin Bucayu, head of the PNP Human Rights Affairs Office (HRAO), to coordinate with CHR to draw up a comprehensive security plan for CHR personnel. The plan will form part of a protocol — or Standard Operating Procedures — between the PNP and CHR in the conduct of CHR’s fact-finding missions, on-site investigations, jail visits, public hearing and similar activities.

“The PNP is aware of the dangers that confront any field investigator, more so of human rights investigator, especially during fact-finding missions where most alleged (human-rights) violators are the powerful or those with political connections,” Verzosa said.

In his directive to Bucayu, Verzosa wanted the HRAO to immediately standardize police security procedures for CHR personnel. The new procedures will be an improvement of the present tedious process in which CHR is required to submit formal letters requesting security details for its personnel doing investigative work.

Standardizing police security procedures, Verzosa said, will also prevent any misunder-standing between local police personnel and the CHR teams, especially in tension-filled areas like Maguindanao.

In the past, the PNP developed a closer working relationship with the CHR, embarking on several partnership projects that attempted to imbue among policemen the respect for human rights.

“To address the problem of human rights violations by police personnel, the PNP has created the Human Rights Affairs Office in 2007 to promote among the officers and men to properly observe, respect and value a person’s basic human rights,” Verzosa said, adding that this was part of the PNP reform initiatives.

In the last two years, the PNP received high public approval rating partly due to the organization’s improved human rights records.

For his part, Bucayu said that since its inception, HRAO sent police personnel to various trainings, HR Educators seminars and similar advocacy programs as a way “to plant the seed of HR advocacy” in the PNP.

“The PNP-HRAO is in the forefront of turning the 125,000-strong organization from one so perceived to be human rights violators to human rights advocates and defenders,” Bucayu said. –Gina Peralta-Elorde, Daily Tribune