PNP chief defends ‘Bloody Sunday’ cops

The Philippine National Police came to the defense of the 30 police officers who were recently charged with murder over the "Bloody Sunday" killings during their operations in Calabarzon in March last year.

PNP chief Police General Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said that the involved cops were just doing their jobs.

"We are now accounting for these police officers because we need to help them," said Azurin. "To my mind, they were just performing their role as police officers. So I don't know what the basis of the charges against them was."

Azurin also called on the past leaders of the PNP to express support for the implicated cops. The PNP chief when the incident happend was Debold Sinas.

"We are also waiting for the support and encouragement from our past leaders for these 30 cops who were charged," Azurin said. "While the filing of complaints happened during my time, I think we also need to call for the voluntary support of our past leaders."

To recall, Justice Undersecretary Brigido Dulay in a House budget hearing Wednesday last week disclosed that murder complaints have been filed against 30 PNP personnel who were involved in the incident.

The charges stemmed from an incident on 7 March 2021 where at least nine activists were killed while six others were arrested after police authorities conducted simultaneous police operations in Calabarzon.

Dulay previously said in a television interview that there are other victims supposedly involved in the 'Bloody Sunday' but their cases are still pending investigation by the Department of Justice special investigation team.

"We are waiting for final resolution of those cases whether appropriate complaints will be filed," Dulay said, adding that some of the incidents were "deemed" not related to AO 35 Special Investigation Team.