No medals necessary
Criminals do not always flee in a straight line. Some deceive, discard their clothing to alter their appearance, or point pursuers the wrong way.
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Criminals do not always flee in a straight line. Some deceive, discard their clothing to alter their appearance, or point pursuers the wrong way.
Amid the recent controversy over the supposedly “unearned” battle medals of an AFP reservist officer who has since “retired,” several cops have lived true to their vow to serve and protect, even if doing so put them in harm’s way.
On 22 August, Police Staff Sgt. Noli Miraña of the San Jose Municipal Police Station in Camarines Sur responded with fellow officers to reports of an armed man running amok. They tried words first, urging the man to surrender peacefully.
Then the words ran out.
Armed with a bolo, the suspect lunged at the officers, striking Miraña in the face and severing his left hand. His fellow officers immediately intervened, shooting the attacker in both thighs and stopping the assault.
Miraña was rushed to the Bicol Medical Center where, according to the latest reports, doctors painstakingly reattached his severed hand for a chance at restoration.
Sometimes courage is not about standing untouched in the line of danger. Sometimes it is about what happens after, and the people who refuse to let one of their own face it alone.
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But there’s a lesson here beyond the obvious courage of a policeman who lost a hand. Officers confronting a person armed with a bladed weapon must understand the brutal mathematics of distance.
The so-called 21-foot rule is not a license to shoot anyone wielding a knife or bolo. It is a lesson from US studies showing how quickly a suspect with a bladed weapon can close the distance on an officer — fast enough to stab before the officer can effectively react.
Distance, reaction time, positioning and access to cover matter. The difference between responding in time and becoming the victim can be measured in seconds. Miraña’s colleagues did not have the luxury of time. Their fellow officer was already down.
Judgment matters too. Courage is not recklessness. De-escalation is preferable when possible. But when an attack is already underway, hesitation can have consequences measured in blood.
The same lesson, in a different form, emerged in Muntinlupa.
Staff Sgt. Lloyd Francisco, with Master Sgt. Alvin Cordero and Patrolman John Lee Macaraeg, responded to an 11 August robbery. Francisco pursued the suspect onto a footbridge and repeatedly ordered him to surrender.
The suspect pointed a firearm at him. Francisco grappled with him. During the struggle, the gun discharged and struck the suspect in the neck. Cordero and Macaraeg were part of the responding team backing Francisco up.
Cops should never assume the threat is where they think it is. Criminals do not always flee in a straight line. Some deceive, discard their clothing to alter appearance, or point pursuers the wrong way.
There’s at least one case in the Philippines where a policeman, misled into believing a fleeing robber had gone elsewhere, turned his back on the very man he was pursuing — and was shot dead.
Francisco’s story could have ended very differently. So could Miraña’s. Neither should be reduced to a Hollywood version of the lone cop who rushes fearlessly into danger.
Miraña had colleagues who intervened when he fell. Francisco had Cordero and Macaraeg with him. The backup officers mattered as much as the men whose names made the headlines.
This is what policing at its best looks like: attempting to de-escalate, recognizing danger when it becomes unavoidable, acting decisively to protect a colleague or civilian, and understanding that courage must always be tempered by judgment.
That is also why the medal controversy matters. Decorations mean something only when the deeds behind them mean something.
Miraña’s severed hand, Francisco’s struggle on a footbridge, and the colleagues who stepped forward require no embellishment. Their courage speaks for them. No ribbons necessary there.
