'Ensure no hazing of fire, jail trainees'

MANILA, Philippines - Amid the uproar on the hazing of police trainees, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo yesterday ordered fire and jail officials to ensure that their trainees are not subjected to such a “barbaric act,” too.

Robredo issued the order as 17 police officers, including two police captains, face dismissal from the service for alleged maltreatment and hazing of trainees undergoing the PNP Special Counter-Insurgency Operation Unit Training (SCOUT) Course in Los Baños, Laguna last year.

“I have directed not only the Philippine National Police but also the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and the Bureau of Fire Protection to observe the law on anti-hazing,” Robredo said.

The Commission on Human Rights vowed to check on police training camps in the regions to ensure that no similar abuses were being committed.