Esperon: No more cedula check

Do away with the cedula check.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. issued this directive to all unit commanders in an apparent bid to stop abuses reportedly being committed by soldiers against civilians who fail to show their cedulas or community tax certificates when accosted.

Instead of requiring villagers to show their cedulas, Esperon said soldiers should themselves secure theirs if only to help raise the revenues of the local governments to where they are assigned.

Besides, Esperon cited confirmed reports reaching Camp Aguinaldo that New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas, posing as military men, have taken advantage of the situation to sow hatred toward the military.

"There are confirmed reports from the field that elements of the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA, posing as Armed Forces personnel, are demanding community tax certificates from the local populace as a propaganda ploy in order to (sow) hatred (toward) the Armed Forces and the government," he said.

Esperon added that Camp Aguinaldo has received several complaints that fear and confusion exists in areas where residents are reportedly required by military units to always carry their cedulas.

"As a matter of policy, the Armed Forces does not require citizens to get (cedulas) neither does it have the power to compel them to secure cedulas unless these are required for documentation under existing laws," he said.

Esperon was apparently referring to reports that soldiers of retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, former commander of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division, have enforced the cedula check on Central Luzon residents supposedly to flush out suspected insurgents.

In doing away with the cedula check, Maj. Gen. Pedro Cesar Ramboanga, Armed Forces deputy chief for operations, came out with five guidelines which field troops should observe at all times.

The guidelines are:

• All Armed Forces units shall require cedulas only from people, on their own volition, who transact business with the military;

• All units shall not require anybody to present a cedula as a means of identifying oneself. The cedula is not a fool-proof document and a conclusive proof of identity;

• During patrols or other operations in urban or other areas, all units must not demand a cedula from any local resident. If there is a need to verify if an individual is a resident of a community, the local officials will be requested to certify or ascertain the matter of residency of the individual;

• All units shall encourage all their personnel to secure their individual cedulas not only for official purposes but also to contribute to the local coffers and identify with the communities where they are assigned to, and;

• Unless officially requested by local officials, no unit of the Armed Forces shall solicit or require any local resident to secure a cedula since this is a function of local government units.

"All commanders are responsible for the widest dissemination of this directive to their respective units and to the general public within their area of responsibility," Ramboanga said in a memorandum dated Sept. 20.