Fact-finding body wants cops in Capitol assault 'commended'
Police officials and commandos who participated in last week's police assault of the Iloilo Capitol should be commended, a police fact-finding team recommended.
Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief, Police Director General Edgardo Doromal, who was appointed by PNP chief, Dir. Gen. Oscar Calderon to head the fact finding body, said that he will recommend the commendation of the more or less 300 police who were deployed at the Capitol last week to implement the dismissal order on Gov. Niel Tupas and Board Members Domingo Oso and Cecilia Capadosa.
"The personnel of PRO6 (Police Regional Office 6) should be commended," Doromal said.
During a multi-sectoral dialogue on the Capitol siege Wednesday, the fact-finding body showed a 5-minute presentation composed of footages taken during the police operation to forcibly remove Tupas, who, along with his supporters, barricaded the Capitol.
Doromal pointed out that there were no major injuries, no shots fired, there was minimal damage and order was restored.
"We will recommend that there will be no more further investigation because there was no infraction of operational guidelines," he said. "Had we discovered that there was an infraction, then we would have recommended an investigation."
Shown in the presentation was the footage of a police commando breaking the glass doors of the Capitol although they had already gained entrance to the building.
Doromal justified it, explaining that police commandos had to break all the glass doors so that in the event of a stampede, people would have additional way out.
Heavily-armed members of the 6th Regional Mobile Group were deployed because they could not be expected to be partisan.
"They're from Negros Occidental, they don't know anybody from Iloilo so they can be relied upon to carry out their orders objectively," Doromal explained.
Likewise, he sees nothing wrong that the RMGs were carrying assault firearms.
"That is their basic weapon," Doromal said.
He also pointed out that incident where a police commando was poking his gun at Board Member Niel Tupas Jr., his sister Niellete, and about four of their supporters.
"That was to gain compliance after a supporter stood up after they were told to sit on the floor," he said.
Doromal said that the 65 police commandos deployed was not even enough to secure the 6-storey Capitol building and its premises.
He said that records show that 52 assorted firearms are registered in the name of the provincial government presumably for the use of the 73 provincial guards. The younger Tupas himself has nine firearms-two high powered and seven handguns.
Thirteen witnesses executed affidavits alleging that persons armed with high-powered firearms were seen at the Capitol premises during the stand off, Doromal said.