MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine National Police on Tuesday said it respects legal processes and is prepared for charges being filed against its members for arresting members of media in the aftermath of the failed rebellion at the Manila Peninsula in November 2007.

“We have no problem with that. We respect the judgment of the courts. The courts will decide this issue,” PNP Chief Director General Avelino Razon told reporters in Camp Crame on Tuesday.

Razon maintained that the police “did the right thing” in taking into custody members of the media who refused to leave even after being warned that the police would be launching an assault on the hotel which had been seized by an armed group led by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim.

We broke no law

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno has maintained that the police had broken no law.

“We stand by the actions we took. We think that it was protecting everybody. What we did was to protect civilians and media and the rebels there,” Puno said.

The man touted to replace Razon as PNP chief, Deputy Director Gen. Jesus Verzosa, said that while the PNP respects the findings of the Commission on Human Rights, the police force will provide legal assistance to personnel facing criminal and administrative charges arising from the Peninsula incident.

In a statement, Verzosa said: “The PNP should not lose its enthusiasm to continue with its duty to serve and protect. When there is criticism, we should respond with more work and focus on the challenges ahead. We shall come to the rescue of the beleaguered and provide legal aid to service-related cases.”

Legal assistance

Verzosa also lauded the police for “bravely facing the daily dangers of police work. It is in this view that the PNP chief has made legal assistance as one of his priority projects,” Verzosa said.

Chief Supt. Nicanor Bartolome, the PNP spokesperson, said the “police action was performed within the bounds of the law.”

In a resolution last Monday, the CHR said the government may have gone overboard in handcuffing journalists and herding them to Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig to undergo “processing.” It said police had violated the journalists’ right to liberty, security of person and freedom from arbitrary arrest.

The CHR recommended that authorities conduct an internal inquiry and file possible administrative cases against the erring police officers.

Palace: No comment

Malacañang on Tuesday refused to comment on the CHR resolution.

“It is an independent commission. [The CHR] is entitled to make its own assessment of what actually happened. We leave it at that for the moment,” said Press Secretary Jesus Dureza.

He said the Palace will wait “where it will bring us.”

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said CHR resolution should go through the “proper legal process” in the Department of Justice and Office of the Ombudsman.

The CHR has yet to furnish Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez or Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez with its findings, she said.

An alliance of journalists Tuesday criticized the CHR for stopping short of recommending the filing of charges against the police officers who arrested the journalists.

‘Wanting’

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said it found the CHR resolution “wanting,” as it merely referred the case to the Department of Interior and Local Government and the PNP for an internal inquiry.

“The NUJP understands that the human rights body has no prosecutorial powers, but we also believe that it could have made a stronger recommendation for the prosecution of those who violated the rights of our colleagues,” it said.

On Nov. 29, 2007, Trillanes, Lim and a group of Magdalo rebel soldiers walked out of a Makati court hearing and proceeded to the Peninsula which they seized, demanding the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Police commandos later stormed the hotel and arrested the rebels. Members of the media were also handcuffed and brought to Camp Bagong Diwa for “processing.”

Police authorities said they had to make sure the media had not been infiltrated by the rebels. They also said that technically, the hotel was a crime scene and all persons there had to be processed.

The National Press Club filed a complaint with the CHR on behalf of 50 print and broadcast reporters and crew who were detained at a police camp in Taguig City after the siege. With reports from Michael Lim Ubac and TJ Burgonio