‘Walk
of Shame’ in Cagayan de Oro Assailed
Davao
is not the only city in southern Philippines that has earned notoriety for the
summary execution of suspected criminals many of them minors. Fast catching up
is Cagayan de Oro City which recently paraded for public view a group of crime
suspects – three of them minors.
By
Grace Cantal-Albasin
Bulatlat.com Mindanao Bureau
CAGAYAN
DE ORO CITY – The controversy generated by the city government’s move to
parade 10 suspected criminals – three of them minors – around the city last
week forced the City Police Office to cancel another “shame walk” last
Friday. Critics and human rights groups have assailed the act as a gross
violation of the basic rights of suspected criminals, particularly the minors.
Police
Chief Inspector Antonio Montalba, the city’s police chief, had justified the
“shame walk” as a preventive measure. According to him, citizens – future
victims – would be able to recognize the suspects, hence they would steer
clear of them. "If their future victims could recognize them then they
could be stopped," Montalba told a local radio station.
Sen.
Aquilino Pimentel Jr., a human rights advocate and this city’s former mayor,
was readying charges against Montalba, who ordered the suspected thieves and
snatchers to be paraded around the city under the scorching heat of the sun, and
with tags hanging down their necks that said "I am a snatcher."
Pimentel
said he was waiting for the sworn affidavits and pieces of evidence, like the
photographs and video footage taken while the suspected criminals were being
paraded around the city.
"We
can include Mayor Vicente Emano as one of the respondents if the evidence would
warrant his involvement in this outright human rights violation," Pimentel
said.
He
added: "We are operating under the rule of law and bragging about it in
effect has provided them (the authorities) their own rope to hang
themselves." Pimentel said the least that could happen to Montalba is
suspension.
Emano
challenged Pimentel and his political rivals to file the charges against him,
not the police. He praised Montalba’s “shame walk.”
"The
suspected criminals were not manhandled. They were just shown around the city so
that they could be recognized by their future victims. Is this bad? What the
police did is for the protection of the residents here. What about the victims
– were they protected from these scrupulous suspects? " an irate Emano
lashed out at his rivals during a radio interview on Tuesday.
Emano
further said that the method was better than the doing the “shortcut” –
that is to summarily execute the suspected criminals.
Vigilante
killings are rampant in the area. Almost every week, suspected gang members are
summarily executed, yet the crime rate does not drop.
Even the “shame walk” did not deter the robbery incidents here.
Lawyer
Noel Beja, City Councilor and chairman of the Committee on Police, criticized
the police for the gross violation of the criminals’ human rights. "The
police was wrong since it has contradicted the Bill of Rights not to subject
suspected criminals to public ridicule," he said.
The
Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) and the human rights group Karapatan in
Northern Mindanao lambasted the police for ignoring the human rights of the
suspects who are yet to be proven guilty in the courts.
Activist
lawyer Beverly Ann Musni said that the city government’s anti-crime efforts
should not be done at the expense of the basic rights of the people, primarily
the presumption of innocence.
She
said everyone has the right to due process, the right against inhuman and cruel
treatment, right to counsel and the right to appeal after conviction.
"The
‘shame walk’ violates the guarantee of the Constitution. It was a summary
trial and conviction by adverse publicity. It is just a milder case of summary
execution," Musni told Bulatlat.com.
Musni
saw the shame walk as discrimination against the poor. She said the city
government can never do such a thing to the rich people who are accused of
estafa, swindling, murder, among others.
Musni
cited the case of former presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada, or
Eduardo Cojuangco and Panfilo Lacson, all of whom have run afoul with the law at
one time or another.
"Why
don’t they parade the alleged plunderers in the city and the province? I
challenge Montalba to parade these government officials being charged with
plunder," Musni said.
Musni
cited the faulty justice system of the country, saying "What if those
suspected criminals turn out to be innocent?" She said the act smacked of
usurpation of power by the executive over the courts, as the police and the city
government have acted as judge, jury and executioner.
The
Philippine National Police (PNP) in Region 10 told Bulatlat.com that it
would wait for the investigation of the Commission on Human Rights. Police Sr.
Supt. Tito Cagurangan said the police could not be involved as yet. "We
don’t tolerate any violations on human rights. Montalba alleged that it was
Mayor Emano who ordered the ‘shame walk.’ It’s Emano who should be
investigated," Cagurangan said.
The
CHR in Northern Mindanao has already asked Montalba to explain the incident.
According
to Amnesty International, violations of human rights, particularly those
involving minors who are in conflict with the law, have been increasing in the
Philippines. (Read Amnesty’s report Philippines:
A different childhood: the apprehension and detention of child suspects and
offenders.) Bulatlat.com
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