Senator slams PNP chief for ‘collateral damage’ remark

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Francis Pangilinan on Wednesday criticized national police chief Director General Jesus Verzosa for describing the “civilians" killed in last weekend’s shootout in Parañaque as “collateral damage." In a statement posted on the Senate website, Pangilinan stressed that use of such term by the police only indicated a “lack of sensitivity of our men in uniform in dealing with the public." Five “civilians" or bystanders were 17 people killed as suspected robbers and pursuing police shot it out Friday night along Paraňaque’s Sampaguita Street. The other fatalities included 10 suspected robbers and two cops. Separate investigations were being conducted by the Philippine National Police and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) amid reports that two of the victims — a vacationing overseas Filipino worker Alfonso de Vera and his 7-year-old daughter Lea Alyanna — were deliberately shot by pursuing cops. A witness alleged that officers of the PNP-Special Action Force showered de Vera's sport utility vehicle with bullets and did not stop shooting even as de Vera was getting out of the car. In a previous interview, Versoza apologized to relatives of the slain “civilians," saying that the deaths of their loved ones were unintended. He then described the victims as “collateral damage," a term commonly used by the military for civilians caught in poorly planned or poorly executed operations and in indiscriminate bombings. Pangilinan said Versoza ought to apologize for using the offending term. "Those killed are human beings with names and faces and with families who are grief-stricken and are in terrible pain as they make sense of the loss," he said. We shouldn't victimize them twice over with insensitive and uncalled for remarks." "Mga tao itong namatay na may pangarap sa buhay (those killed are human beings who have individual dreams for their lives). I am sure if any of PNP Chief Versoza's loved ones are caught in such a tragic incident, he wouldn't want his loved ones to be described as collateral damage. - Aie Balagtas See, GMANews.TV