SENATORS Francis N. Pangilinan and Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson yesterday warned that a plan by the Philippine National Police to establish a civilian network similar to the infamous Alsa Masa group in Davao City in the 1980s to increase community support in the fight against crime, especially illegal drugs, might become ‘’a recipe for rampant atrocities and abuse.’’
Pangilinan, president of the Liberal Party, said that the Alsa Masa in the 1980s became notorious for rampant violations of human rights, widespread atrocities, and abuse, all in the name of anti-communism and law and order.
“I am afraid it is giving the corrupt and abusive policemen more teeth to rape, to kill and to commit crime against unarmed citizens,’’ he warned. “The PNP should seriously reconsider this approach,’’ he said.
Lacson, a former PNP chief during the abbreviated term of President Joseph Estrada, strongly objected to the plan. “It could be a very dangerous move especially if it spins out of control. Going by what transpired in the past, using that same tactic against the insurgents in Davao City and elsewhere in Mindanao where the Kuratong Baleleng group of Octavio Parojinog was utilized by the AFP, bordering even on vigilantism,’’ he said.
“Without a well-planned and structured exit program, it resulted in their choice of crime as their next career,’’ he warned. “If the PNP adopts the same method without seriously considering the lessons of the past, we could have a serious peace and order problem in our hands,’’ he stressed. (Mario B. Casayuran)
