- Senator Alan Peter Cayetano asked why cops involved in the bloody dispersal in Kidapawan were given medals
- A Regional police officer said only the wounded cops were awarded the Wounded Personnel Medals
- Cayetano said he wants to know how the PNP determines who gets to be awarded with medals
Senator Alan Peter Cayetano wondered why policemen who took part in the bloody dispersal of farmers in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato were awarded medals.
Senator Cayetano, a vice presidential aspirant and a member of the Senate Committee on Human Rights conducting a hearing at the University of Souteastern Philippines in Davao City, questioned the timing of the bestowing of the medals; noting that some members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Special Action Forces who got wounded in the Mamasapano clash got theirs after a year.
An ABS-CBN article dated April 7, 2016 said that according to the senator, the awarding of the medals may have come too fast as the issue on whether the policemen used excessive force in the dispersal has yet to be resolved.
Police Regional Office 12 Director Chief Superintendent Noel Armilla told Senator Cayetano that only the officers who got wounded were given the Wounded Personnel Medals.
Armilla said the medals served as a morale-booster to the wounded Civil Disturbance Management officers.
“Yung mga wounded personnel po ang binigyan ng medalya. I want to state for the record na hindi ‘yun medalya ng pagpupuri sa nagawa. Rather, ‘yun ‘yung boosting the morale ng mga kasamahan natin na nasugatan,” Armilla clarified.
[Only the wounded were given medals. I want to state for the record they were not medals of appreciation for what they did, but rather medals to boost the morale of our wounded colleagues.]
Cayetano said he is only focused on how the PNP determines who gets to be given medals. He also would want to know whether wounded officers who violated the law are entitled to the honor.
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