COTABATO CITY, Philippines โ A Bangsamoro lawmaker has expressed support for the investigation into the brutal hazing of 129 newly inducted police officers in Lamitan City, Basilan, warning that the incident could undermine the ongoing integration of former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members into the Bangsamoro police force.
Naguib Sinarimbo, deputy floor leader of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliament, said he has confidence in the Police Regional OfficeโBARMM (PRO-BAR) to resolve the case in accordance with Philippine National Police (PNP) procedures.
Lawmaker raises serious concerns
โWe have no doubt in the capability of the Bangsamoro regional police to resolve that issue according to established PNP procedures,โ said Sinarimbo, a lawyer and former BARMM local government minister appointed to parliament by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last year.
Still, Sinarimbo, a known advocate of the peace process between the government and the MILF, said the incident raises serious concerns about its possible effect on the scheduled integration of more former combatants into PRO-BAR under the security provisions of the 2014 peace agreement.
The hazing incident occurred during what was described as a โreception riteโ conducted by senior personnel of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 14B. Several of the new policemen were mauled and hospitalized. Videos of the incident later went viral on social media.
Cause-oriented groups and regional officials on Tuesday, February 19, expressed support for efforts by the Bangsamoro police to hold those responsible accountable.
‘Very saddening’
Members of the Regional Advisory Group (RAG) of PRO-BAR, led by lawyer Ronald Hallid Torres, said they are optimistic the case will be resolved fairly.
Torres said PRO-BAR regional director Brig. Gen. Jaysen De Guzman personally supervised the investigation and went to Lamitan City last Sunday to speak with the injured officers.
โThe incident is very saddening. We want it resolved soon,โ Torres said.
Fahd Candao, BARMM regional director of the National Police Commission and also a member of the RAG, said the commissionโs central office ordered a separate investigation into the incident.
Bangsamoro Labor and Employment Minister Muslimin Sema, who also chairs the central committee of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), said they were deeply aggrieved to learn that among those injured were former MILF members who joined PRO-BAR after completing basic police training.
โThat was a clear violation of the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018. What was done to these young policemen was a criminal offense. We want justice for them,โ Sema said.
The MILF and the MNLF, which have separate peace agreements with the national government, jointly manage several agencies in BARMM and hold seats in the regionโs 80-member parliament.
Abolish hazing
Another BARMM lawmaker, Jet Lim, said the parliament could pass a resolution ordering all police units in the region to abolish hazing and violent initiation rites, warning of penalties under Republic Act No. 11053, or the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018.
โWho, in their proper frame of mind, would want to be prosecuted for violating that law? That would be shameful for any offender,โ said Lim, the parliamentโs spokesperson.
PRO-BAR director De Guzman and Basilan police director Colonel Cerrazid Umabong said more than 70 police personnel involved in the hazing incident are now under the custody of PRO-BARโs Regional Police Holding and Accounting Section at Camp SK Pendatun in Parang, Maguindanao del Norte, pending the filing of charges.
โ dailysunchronicle.com<
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