BREAKING NEWS
As I write, Korina Sanchez is interviewing Kaye Failon live at Bandila over ABS-CBN. Kaye says explicitly that the brutal police arrests of their relatives at the New Era General Hospital may have hastened her mother's death. She lamented the fact that her mother was alone when she attempted to take her life yesterday and was deprived of the presence of her brother and sister when she passed away.
"I hope this is not designed to harass Ted Failon or other media personalities," says Atty. Leila De Lima, chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), noting that it was ABS-CBN that took the February 17, 2009 video of the shooting incident involving suspected car thieves that was investigated by the CHR.
"Grabe 'yung ginawa nila sa 'kin," Pam, sister of Trinidad Etong, said of the way police handled the investigation regarding her part in the incident.
I do not dispute the possibility that Ted Failon and/or other members of his household might be guilty of wrongdoing in what happened to Trinidad Etong. But they should be presumed innocent until proven guilty and, even when subjected to arrest, should be accorded all the rights of an accused and should not have been subjected to the harsh treatment that was shown all over national television.
In a democratic society which purports to respect the dignity of human beings, the abusive manner of the arrests we saw on TV should not be allowed to go uncriticized. That is how we lose our rights without our noticing it ... little by little ... until we wake up one day to see that they're gone! And then, magtataka tayo, kung bakit at paano nawala. We get the government that we deserve!
This blog asks PGMA to discipline any police officer found guilty of abuse of authority or violation of due process in making these arrests.
What do you think? Pababayaan na lang ba nating mangyari nang paulit-ulit ang ganitong asal ng ating kapulisan?!
17 April 2009 1:24 am VIDEO UPDATE
Direct from the ABS-CBN website, here is the link to the video footage of Kaye Failon's interview (I'm having some difficulty hosting the video here):
Let's join hands to turn this tragedy into a plus for the Filipino nation -- a turning point in stopping the abusive manner by which our police authorities oftentimes go about their duty to "serve and protect" the people.
Let's continue praying for God's grace, strength, comfort, and guidance for the whole Failon family at this most difficult hour in their lives.
23 April 2009 1:39pm VIDEO UPDATE
You may now view Kaye's interview with Korina here:
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