Honestly, did we really need to see that torture video before we realize that this sort of thing has been going on since time immemorial?
The PNP leadership may turn a blind eye but it can never deny that some police personnel routinely engage in such acts.
One time I chanced upon a police mobile car with a young boy seated inside. Apparently he was picked up for vagrancy. As I walked by I overheard one of the police officers verbally abusing the boy. The policeman wasn’t cursing at him but what he said sounded really ominous and I can only imagine more so to someone as young as that kid. The policeman said:
“Baka gusto mo tuluyan na kita.”
The policeman probably didn’t mean it. Maybe he was just trying to scare the kid. But still, that was no way for anyone to discipline a child.
Of course, the video we’ve been seeing this past few days is far more troubling.
To be honest, watching it made me angry. It made me wish the same or something worse would happen to that torturer. I even thought that if I were to do the honors of giving him hell, I’d also have a string attached to his genitals and with the other end of the string attached to a car I will have him dragged along a road littered with shattered glass and salt.
I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who had such evil thoughts.
Now that’s the thing. Why is it that our reactions to torture videos depend on context? Just imagine if it were Saddam Hussein, whose regime resulted in the torturing and killing of many innocent people, who was shown being tortured. How about Adolf Hitler? How about Sr. Insp. Joselito Binayug who has been tagged as the abuser in that torture video?
I posed these questions to a friend and he said there’s a big difference between thinking of doing something and actually doing it. He is of course correct. Still, I wonder. Would it take much to drive a person to actually do unspeakable things to another human being?
I wonder if Binayug was thinking along the same line as he was being interviewed by some reporters.
(excerpt from www.asiaone.com)
He briefly mentioned that one of his children had been held up near a precinct and told reporters that if they had children, they would know how it felt.
What I find more troubling about this whole issue is the fact that the PNP has failed to ensure that no policeman would ever carry out inhumane acts such as this. I dare say that up to this point everyone who has held a position of authority within the police organization simply lacked the balls and brains to formulate and implement measures that would put a stop to all forms of police abuses.
A witness who spoke anonymously on TV said that while many policemen object to the use of torture they feel they cannot do anything if the one doing it is a superior. While I think that is such a cop-out I can also understand how that would be a real problem. No one likes to jeopardize their career by telling on a superior.
That to me is a clue that points to a possible countermeasure. The PNP leadership should bring down all barriers preventing lower ranking personnel from reporting abuses committed by their superiors. It should also provide significant rewards to whistleblowers whose exposes are proven to be true. Spot promotions would probably sound appealing.
I’m not saying though that this is the ultimate solution. I still believe ensuring a humane and professional police force can be done by simply strengthening the screening and recruitment process. As it is, I think the PNP is doing a poor job at screening out undesirables. These of course include sociopaths and psychopaths as well as those with a history of boorishness and thuggery. I don’t mean to be discriminatory but I’m also convinced that people with impoverished backgrounds should be rejected from the police force outright. It’s simple. Why should people who are primarily motivated by a desperate need to make money fast be allowed to carry a gun and hide behind the shield of the law?
The PNP leadership probably won’t have the time to give these suggestions any thought right now. It needs to focus on managing the publicity nightmare brought on by this torture video. On this, I have one last suggestion for the PNP. Don’t approach the issue from a public relations standpoint. Instead, do the best you can do to actually get those involved in the atrocity and ensure their imprisonment by building a strong case against them.
In short, just do what you’re supposed to do.
I’ve been held up once, and I think kung ako yung torturer sa video, I would have yanked on the balls hanggang matanggal yung bayag, tapos papakain ko sa magnanakaw yung itlog niya.
Nakakairita kasi talaga ang manakawan, kasi hindi lang naman yung bagay na nanakaw ang mawawala sa iyo. You always live in fear for the next time na mananakawan ka, kasi lagi mong maaalala, at lagi kang mag-aasam na makaganti.
The police officer in Tondo is justified in his tactics. Nakaka-bilib na makita na yung mga hardened thugs sa area niya ay natatakot na matorture. As far as instilling fear and preventing law-breaking, this policeman has succeeded.
You waive your human rights when you decide to be inhuman to other people. Murderers are euthanized, traitors get their heads cut off. Thugs with guns get their balls tugged on.
Torturin ang lahat ng magnanakaw, small time man o malaki. Ipahila lahat ng bayag nila sa pulis na ito. Matakot sana silang lahat para hindi na maggago at magnakaw ulit.
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sori mahaba,
the problem with this whole torture issue is that the man yanking on the genitals of the victim took on the role of punisher. who gave him that mandate?
i know where you’re coming from and i sometimes feel the same way too but i still believe torture has no place in a civilized society.
heaping praise on the torturer in this video is also not a good thing to do publicly and strictly speaking even privately.
i’m sure not a few people also feel that abuser also deserves to be tortured. now, notice the pattern there?
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This is a case of Police Torturer in our Police Forces. The question here: Why are they torturing people? Are the Police some sort of Sadists? Are they trying to get informations from the victims? If the Police, are just torturing to satify their Sadistic desires. Then, they should be dismissed. We don’t need these
Scalawags in our Police Forces…Saddam Hussein Police Forces ressurected in the Philippines…
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Supreme Court is no longer Supreme! I just could not help keeping to my self to what the Supreme Court is doing to those who files Complaint. I have been in the Court filing cases for almost 20 years. In the early times, the filing of Complaint Affidavit is just a matter of course, cheap filing fees, filing of Motions are free, and their was no hazel.
Unfortunately, that devil called JUDICIARY DEVELOPMENT FUNDS completely change my impression towards our Supreme Court. They have turned Justice into a money making enterprise. No, sir. They are more occupied making money than in dispensing their function. Now a days, it is too expensive to file a Complaint Affidavit. For example, one time, I have to throw to the garbage my Complaint because the filing fee is too high. With the substance of P 100,000 involve, I have to pay the Court P 20,000 depending on the number of Checks. Let us consider other expenses, Filing Fee P 20,000, Acceptance Fee of my Lawyer, P 20,000 minimum, then, there is their per appearance of P 2,500 and then when I win the case, I will pay the Court Sheriff a minimum of P 12,000 to elit the properties just in case. In short, the grand total of my expenses is P 62,000 pesos. Now, if I won the case, 25% goes to the lawyer for winning the litigation, which is another P25,000 pesos. In short, I have to shell out a minimum of P 87,000! Now in the civil aspect of the B.P. 22, you get a !% a month interest , still it can not cover up the original amount of P 100,000 pesos because you will just be collecting P 1,000 a month or P12, 000 a year. So, if you have P100,000 original claim plus one year interest of P 12,000, then your gross is P 112,000, and less expenses of P87,000 pesos, then your net is only P 25,000.
Sounds crazy but it is the fact! For going to the Court you spend P 87,000 and your net is only P 27,000 from the original of P 100,000. So is it worth it?
The culprit here is the interest impose by the Court for “humanitarian purposes” by awarding you 1% a month!
Going back to the JDF. At present, the income derive from these excessive collection for this year alone went up to 8 billion pesos! Now, 80% of the JDF goes for “Cost of LIving allowances.” In short, the word “Judiciary Development Funds” is actually to finance the allowances of the Justices. Imagine 8 billion pesos 80% is a wooping 6.4 billion pesos Judges allowance. He hhee.
Sounds fantastic but true. Imagine, if there are 2,000 judges in the entire Philppines, so each will have a yearly allowances of 320 million pesos. Sounds fantastic. I hope my arthimitic is wrong. Of course the SC judges will have a greater share from the cake. Supreme Court yata.
NOw, here is why it is morally wrong. The collection alone of Cost of Living Allowances of Judges is not lawful for the simple reason that the Judiciary Branch has already a yearly budget. NO NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS BECAUSE THEY ARE ALREADY SUBSIDIZED BY THE TAX PAYER IN THE FIRST PLACE.
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