ILOILO CITY, (PNA) — The House committee on public order and safety will hold a second public hearing before the year ends to determine if the procedures followed by Iloilo City Police Office’s Special Weapon and Tactics team during their response to a call for assistance of Aksyon Radyo-Iloilo were indeed inappropriate.
The first hearing, held Monday at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol Building, was led by Capiz Second District Rep. Fredenil Castro who authored House Resolution No. 237.
House Resolution No. 237 is titled, “A resolution urging the Committee on Public Order and Safety to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the alleged excessive force and unreasonable assault employed by the SWAT against a radio station.”
After the hearing, Negros Occidental 4th District Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer, chairman of the committee on public order and safety, said the committee members will determine if there was a mistake in the procedures followed by the responding team.
He said they have already requested the Philippine National Police to furnish them a copy of rules of agreement in the conduct of operation.
“We have to know if there was mistake or none,” Ferrer said.
Present during the hearing were the seven police officers who were charged administratively by the complainants. They were Police Officers 1 Michael Binobo, Ravelo Acosta, Christopher Castañeda, Rene Diane, Melvin Deypalubos, El Abastillas, and Johven Mark Causing.
Last Aug. 25, the SWAT team raided the station and allegedly harassed seven personnel of the radio station, after they received information that a group of armed men entered the station.
These men were reportedly involved in a commotion at a bar along Smallville area that left five youngsters wounded. It turned that the youngsters were the victims who sought help from the radio station.