HRW calls for accountability, use of body cams after fatal shooting of QC woman
Published June 4, 2021 8:15am Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday called on the Philippine National Police (PNP) to be serious in holding rogue cops accountable after another uniformed personnel was caught on video fatally shooting a civilian. In a statement, the HRW said such incident highlights the need for police to wear body cameras as it shows that accountability may only be possible if the crime is caught on video. The PNP needs to demonstrate they are serious about accountability and start requiring the police to use the cameras, HRW said.
MANILA (Reuters) - Hundreds of police in the Philippines will start wearing body cameras during operations, it police chief said on Friday, heeding demands from human rights groups for accountability after thousands of killings and allegations of cover-ups. The announcement came after public outrage over the fatal shooting on Monday of a woman by an off-duty policeman, which led to condemnation from activists who say police brutality has become systematic under President Rodrigo Duterte and his bloody war on drugs. The shooting of Lilibeth Valdez, 52, was recorded on a mobile phone and shared on social media. Policeman Hensie Zinampan was seen in the video pulling Valdez s hair before he shot her in the neck. Administrative and criminal charges have been filed against him. The Commission on Human Rights said it was investigating the killing. Valdez was laid to rest at a ceremony on Friday. Philippine police have been accused of executing suspects then staging crime scenes and fabricati
Published June 2, 2021, 9:12 AM
Not all the country’s policemen are rotten, Malacañang insisted Tuesday after a video showing a woman being shot dead by a cop in Quezon City went viral online.
An incensed PNP Chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar confronts PM/Sgt. Hensie Zinampan at Camp Karingal in Quezon City on June 1, 2021. (Video screenshot courtesy of PNP)
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque defended that the Philippine National Police (PNP) remained a professional organization, adding the shooting involving the cop was an isolated incident.
“Definitely, that is not the rule. That is the exception to the rule. Wala po tayong magagawa. Kahit anong organization mayroong paisa-isang mga bugok at ito pong pangyayaring ito iyong naunang event…ito po iyong mga bugok (We cannot do anything. In any organization, there are a few rotten eggs and this incident is one of the bad eggs),” Roque said during a televised press briefing Tuesday.
June 02, 2021
Video footage of the gunman, alleged to be police master sergeant Hensie Zinampan.
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Filipinos on Tuesday (June 1) woke to yet another shocking video showing an unarmed and defenceless citizen being shot dead by a policeman.
Footage taken on a mobile phone and aired by ABS-CBN News shows police master sergeant Hensie Zinampan, who is dressed in civilian clothing, pulling a gun from a bag then holding it behind his back as he lurches unsteadily towards a woman who is buying cigarettes at a store.
He says “we’re both drunk aren’t we”, then orders the woman to “come here” and grabs her by the hair.