EDITORIAL — Not deserving of a badge

A policeman is now in trouble after allegedly beating several members of the contingent from Compostela Town here for the other day’s Pasigarbo sa Sugbo.

According to reports, the choreographers of the contingent asked the police for assistance in rounding up their members for practice.

After some members were late to the call because they had to either bathe or eat, the policeman allegedly mistreated them.

“Unfortunately pag abot sa mga dancers nga gikan pa naligo gi largo silag TAMPAROS and SAGPA without hearing sa ilang side and after that pag abot sa propsmen nga gikan pa tawn ni kaon wala pod paminawa ilang side gi largo silag pag (paddle) gamit kahoy and gipa extend ang kamot unya gi hapak og kahoy na dospordos unya nabali ang kahoy, after naa pay gi sukmag na propsmen,” read a portion of a comment posted online.

We don’t see the actual slapping or punching incident, but a video circulating online does show a policeman ordering a contingent member to hold out his hands before hitting them with a wooden rod, then dismissing him.

We don’t know if the policeman was trying to instill some kind of discipline in those he treated that way or if he was in some kind of power trip, but most likely it was the latter.

If it was the former he would have still been in the wrong, as he was in no position of authority over those he mistreated because they were not his subordinates. While it is true that he can be seen as someone in authority because he is a policeman, he was not in a position to enforce disciplinary action on them.

Thankfully, this seems to be the only such incident reported with the dozens of contingents from different towns billeted in different schools here in Cebu City for the Pasigarbo.

We hope the police organization deals with this issue accordingly. Someone who thinks nothing of slapping, punching, or beating others for being late --which is far from a criminal offense-- really doesn’t deserve to be a policeman.