As President Rodrigo Duterte ended his May 20 midnight address with a defense of National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas, groups hit the double standards of the government and Duterte himself in the implementation of the lockdown guidelines. Duterte said he wanted Sinas to remain as NCRPO chief and that he is a good and honest man.

The police has apprehended more than 130,000 in less than two months of the lockdown, for being outside their homes without authorization, not wearing masks and other such offenses.

Sinas and many police officers were found to have breached quarantine protocols for his “extraordinary birthday celebration” on May 8 in photos posted by his office a few days later. Many called to hold Sinas accountable.

Just a day before Duterte’s vote of confidence for Sinas, Philippine National Police chief Police General Archie Gamboa said that Sinas will not be replaced in his post as he is overseeing a lot of programs related to the COVID-19 emergency, despite criminal charges a unit of the police agency was said to have filed against Sinas and 18 others identified on the photos on May 15.

Bayan Metro Manila said in a statement that the top Metro Manila cop no longer has the credibility to enforce quarantine rules following his birthday party.

“It is also insensitive for public officials to organize a party and flaunt it on social media when millions are suffering from hunger, deprivation, and isolation,” said the group.

Anakpawis, whose volunteers were arrested, detained and charged when undertaking relief operations and despite having a permit from a government agency, hit the government and Duterte’s double standards.

“Indeed there are two justice system in the country, the one with the powerful which is basically characterized by compassion and understanding when they violated the law, while on the other hand, the face of the law which imposed to ordinary citizen showing its full throttle harshness for those who violated it”, said former Anakpawis Representative Ariel “Ka Ayik” Casilao.

Meanwhile, human rights lawyer Atty. Chel Diokno whom Duterte singled out and attacked on a personal level in one of his speeches to report to the public the government’s progress in pandemic response, echoed the observation of double standards in favor of the allies of the president.

Diokno commented, “Akala ko ba no one is above the law? Bakit pag alyado ng pangulo walang pananagutan kahit huli sa akto, kapag naman di niya kakampi e parusa agad ang aabutin? Yan ba ang “new normal” natin ngayon?”

[I thought no one is above the law? Why are those who are not allied with the president punished swiftly while when his allies are caught in the act they cannot be held accountable? Is this our “new normal” now?]

Karapatan said Sinas should have been investigated and relieved from post long before breaking quarantine policies because of the multiple human rights violations that were committed in Negros during his stint as Central Visayas police chief.

“The pronouncements to shield Sinas from criticisms and to justify a decision to keep him as the top cop of the National Capital Region are preposterous as it does not only convey a dangerous message that promotes impunity, but most importantly because it reveals how this government, within its forces, is coddling perpetrators of human rights violations,” said Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay.

Bayan Metro Manila echoed this sentiment.

“Sinas is Duterte’s brutal enforcer who is remorseless in undermining civil liberties and subverting due processes. He is accused of masterminding the relentless attacks on peasant communities in Negros,” said the group.

Five members of organizations affiliated with Bayan Metro Manila were arrested from their offices and remained detained in a series of office raids the police conducted in the first month of Sinas in Metro Manila. Among those arrested were a breastfeeding mother and a now six months pregnant woman.

The Makabayan Bloc in the Lower House filed a resolution calling for the immediate dismissal of NCRPO Chief Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas.

 

Groups called for an online protest on May 20 to call #SibakinSiSinas and rejecting Duterte’s ‘condoning of Sinas’ violations of the government’s own rules.’

 

Many reacted to Sinas’ statement today thanking Duterte and then telling his bashers to move on because he has moved on.

 

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