Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

MANILA - The Philippine National Police is ready to respond to the human rights report released by the United States State Department which said that although civilian authority governed security forces, there were still instances when government troops acted independently.

PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina said the PNP will be complying with the Malacanang orders to submit a response to the US State Department report by April 1.

At the same time, Espina said the PNP is continuously investigating its own men when it came to human rights abuses.

“We are always investigating the complaints against our men. We do not tolerate human rights abuses and we always cleanse our ranks immediately,” Espina told reporters.

Espina also admitted that there were several “infractions” committed by their men but “we readily investigate them immediately.”

The US State Department report pointed out that "arbitrary, unlawful, and extrajudicial killings by elements of the security services and political killings, including killings of journalists, by a variety of actors continued to be major problems. Concerns about impunity persisted. Members of the security services committed acts of physical and psychological abuse on suspects and detainees, and there were instances of torture.”

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