CORNY CONGRESSMAN IN AKSYONRADYO-SWAT HOUSE HEARING

House committee hearing on 
Aksyonradyo Iloilo-SWAT furor

"Every reform movement has a lunatic fringe."
Theodore Roosevelt 

By Alex P. Vidal

It was only when Capiz second district Rep. Fredenil Castro stopped talking in the afternoon of September 30 that the hearing conducted by the House committee on public order and safety on the assault by the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) on Aksyonradyo Iloilo last August 25, became smooth and civil, to say the least. 
Castro, author of House Resolution No. 237 that sought to investigate the incident, wasted several hours of the hearing at the session hall of the Iloilo provincial capitol with his empty rhetoric, acerbic attitude, and hostile remarks toward some of the invited guests.
He came to castigate and humiliate the cops, not to ferret out the truth. We all know that lapses appeared to be present in the SWAT raid which was widely condemned by media organizations, but Castro wanted those uniformed men involved in the fracas to look pathetic and cowards. His joke that a SWAT member could be attracted to the station's lady employee was also corny.
When the microphone was given to congressmen, who were formerly high-ranking officials of the PNP, and were therefore more knowledgeable about police matters, salient points were addressed and questions that needed to be asked earlier were given utmost importance.

REFORMS

We expect reforms in the implementation of police operational procedures as a result of the House committee investigation which adjourned at around 2:30 pm September 30.
Lapses have been noted in the employment and deployment of SWAT team, a special unit of the Philippine National Police, which did not have guidelines to regulate its operations as observed by Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop, a former police general.
Iloilo third district Rep. Arthur Defensor Jr. wanted the PNP to identify which part of the manual of police operational procedure was applicable in the incident that needs review. Pangasinan second district Rep.  Leopoldo Bataoil wanted relationships between the PNP and media "brought back to its original level."
The congressional investigation, which will continue this month of October or November, is not done to crucify and punish some invited guests or to send the guilty parties in jail. It is in aid of legislation, to determine what law to be passed or amended, in order to institute certain reforms and to prevent a similar problem to occur in the future.

DETERMINE

The court will determine who is the guilty party in the Aksyonradyo Iloilo-SWAT imbroglio, not Congress. There will be a different hearing to be conducted by the Office of the Ombudsman to determine the administrative and criminal culpability of the SWAT team headed by its supervisor at the time of the incident, Senior Insp. Joel Bulfa, and Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) director, Senior Supt. Ruperto Floro.
We admire the professionalism shown by both parties, especially by Aksyonradyo Iloilo headed by station manager John Paul Tia, who was able to show his solid leadership by presenting the facts of the case in a very calm and clear manner. We also doff our hats off Region 6 PNP director, Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz Jr., who rescued his trembling and erratic underlings from disastrous testimonies with his tact and straightforward answers to all the sharp questions thrown at the police organization. Before Chief Supt. Cruz took the microphone, Supt. Floro and other lowly cops interrogated by hot-tempered Rep. Castro were a bizarre caricature in the hearing.