As a parent of a male 18-year-old in the Philippines, the latest “mistake” of Pinoy cops that led to the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Jerhode Jemboy Baltazar in Navotas City, is another truly scary reminder of just how trigger happy our law enforcers have become, as the “shoot first, ask questions later” mentality that they thought they were gifted by the previous administration’s brutal and bloody war on drugs, apparently still exists.
According to news report on Rappler, the police were looking for suspects of a shooting incident in Barangay NBBS Kaunlaran on August 2. A suspect had escaped, and during their follow-up operation, they received information that the suspect allegedly boarded a boat.
When police arrived at the scene, the saw the boat of Baltazar and his friend. Rattled and scared, as any young Filipino male would be of cops, given their bloodthirsty reputation and tactical killer looks these days, the 17-year-old jumped off the boat and into the river. Without thinking too much of the consequences of irresponsible gun use on unconfirmed targets, the cops opened fire at the boy.
It was found out later that the 17-year-old they killed was not the suspect the cops were looking for. If the shooting hadn’t happened in a river, there is a possibility that a rusty .38 and a packet of shabu might’ve been found on the poor dead kid.
The six cops tagged in the killing have apparently been relieved of their posts (which means nothing) and are currently detained (which could be an improvement compared to previous incidents) at the Navotas City Police Station. They underwent inquest proceedings before the Navotas City prosecutor’s office. The family filed a homicide complaint against the six, with Baltazar’s extremely lucky friend who survived serving as a witness.
If this kind of police “mistake” had happened in a country where such killings haven’t been normalized by up to 30,000 such deaths in 6 years, riots would have broken out as citizens demand justice for the victim. Here in the Philippines, it was just another Wednesday, just another teenager killed by trigger happy cops. We were shocked that it happened again, but after a few minutes, we carry on like the loss of a young life at the hands of those who were supposed to protect us is just normal and expected in this country.
This is the reason why cops in full battle gear at check points or just randomly strolling around scare me instead of giving any assurance of public safety. If they can shoot and kill a “suspect” so easily, God only knows what can go into their heads and send electrical impulses into their trigger fingers if some of them see me or my kid on a bad day.
What if, God forbid, a bald killer/drug lord is on the loose in the Metro Bacolod area? How do I know that our cops here are not the trigger happy / shoot-to-kill types?
Police officials, of course, have said that the incident is another “isolated” case. We don’t know how they define isolated, but that overused excuse/explanation would be more believable if it were only 1 cop with an itchy trigger finger. However, when it involves a team of 6 cops that open fire on a kid, that more of a systemic breakdown of the understanding of rules of engagement and basic morality. We can only hope that it is only a Navotas police problem, and not a Philippine National Police problem that has to be purged from the policing system of this country.
If you come to think of it, the macho police mentality/image in this country that was encouraged by a thuggish leadership is not exactly making many of us feel safe. Time and again, I have expressed my admiration for the gunless cops of countries like the United Kingdom, where their weapons are usually stored in their patrol car or police station, only to be used in extreme cases, and not any time they feel like shooting an unconfirmed and unarmed suspect dead. On the polar opposite of that policing concept are our cops who like to cosplay in camouflage BDU’s, tactical vests, and assault rifles, making it look like we are at constant war with an imaginary evil, which actually makes me feel the opposite of safe.
Everyone, even the PNP top brass, will probably agree that they need to work on not shooting innocent teenagers dead. But aside from that, which should be the bare minimum for any cop, our cops really need to work on making Filipinos feel actually safe without needing to always brandish firearms. Because right now, it feels Pinoy cops don’t have any qualms with pointing their guns at humans and using lethal force, even at the slightest provocation.
A trigger-happy, shoot-first-ask-questions later reputation of any police force will always alienate it from the community they are supposed to serve and protect. What will the PNP do to convince Filipinos that our cops are not like the trigger happy ones at Navotas?*
