Re-training for 341 Pasay cops to go on in Subic, Aglipay insists

A stern Metro Manila police director Deputy Director General Edgar Aglipay put his foot down yesterday morning and announced that the re-training of all 341 Pasay City policemen will push through at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) starting June 17 – throwing out the requests of no less than a city mayor and a number of his constituents.

"Let us make sacrifices for our country," Aglipay bellowed in Filipino. "Let us accept that we are primarily responsible for what happened! Let us look at this as a wake-up call!"

Aglipay added that instead of complaining, everyone must do his part to find a solution to the problem. He said the botched rescue of four-year-old Dexter Balala from the hands of hostage taker Diomedes Talbo last May 31 at the Philtranco bus terminal was an accident and went so far as to say that he was also to blame for the incident. Balala and Talbo both ended up dead.

Normally soft-spoken, Aglipay lost his cool at what was supposed to be a dialogue with city Mayor Wenceslao "Pewee" Trinidad and the families of the Pasay policeman for the reconsideration of PNP Chief Leandro Mendoza’s order to relieve the entire city police force and make them undergo re-training.

Speaking in behalf of the families, Trinidad made the following requests to Aglipay: That the training be conducted by batches; that the training be conducted in Metro Manila; and an assurance that the entire Pasay police force will not be assigned to other places after the re-training, saying that most of the families are residents of the city.

Only the last of the three requests was granted by Aglipay.

Aside from Trinidad, also present at the jam-packed meeting at the city hall lobby were Southern Police District (SPD) Director Chief Superintendent Jose Gutierrez, Jr., city councilors, police commissioned officers led by city police officer-in-charge Superintendent Amante Bersamin, about 50 Pasay policemen, and their families.

Nobody dared to open the table for a dialogue after Aglipay’s 15-minute impassionate speech. Even as he earlier supported the families’ requests, Trinidad himself bowed to Aglipay’s call and urged his constituents to "show the people that we are ready to make sacrifices."

As if trying to explain Aglipay’s firm stance, Trinidad reminded the audience that whatever happens in a city’s law and order situation, Aglipay would ultimately take the blame.

Trinidad over the weekend described Mendoza’s order as "unfair and an overreaction." He also renewed his call to transfer the control of police, fire, and jail forces to the local government units.

Pasay police chief Superintendent Eduardo de la Cerna, who acted as ground commander, has been relieved of his post and is now facing a charge of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide along with 20 other policemen and eight Philtranco security guards.

Aglipay emphasized the need for the re-training of the policemen to show a disappointed and angry public that the PNP is "sincere and serious" in its efforts to effect changes in the institution. He added that after the incident, he himself is making sacrifices as well, detailing a more hectic schedule, which includes surprise inspections to ensure the readiness of the policemen in responding to crimes. Aglipay urged the Pasay policemen’s families to adjust to the situation. – With Non Alquitran and Ding Cervantes