Senator Raffy Tulfo on Monday sounded the alarm over a recurring pattern of excessive force during law enforcement operations, citing a recent joint mission that resulted in the tragic deaths of innocent civilians.
In a privilege speech, Tulfo highlighted the “Alfad Case,” involving a joint operation by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Zamboanga City last April 23. The raid led to the deaths of three civilians, one of whom was only 12 years old.
The senator shared the account of survivor Mohammad Alfad, who claimed that operatives stormed their residence at 1:30 a.m. in pursuit of an alleged terror group member. Alfad maintained that the individual being sought was not in the house, a fact later confirmed by investigators.
“Hindi lang itong kaso na ito ang nakarating sa akin kung saan ang ating mga law enforcers ay lumabis sa kanilang mga operations. Paulit-ulit na lang na sumusugod ang mga ito at kakalampagin ang mga nananahimik na mga komunidad,” Tulfo said.
The senator criticized the lack of tactical planning and the repeated violation of rules of engagement. He argued that law enforcers must be better equipped to gauge reasonable force based on the specific circumstances of an encounter.
“Our law enforcers should also be trained to determine what is necessary and reasonable taking into consideration the number of aggressors, nature and characteristic of the weapon used, physical condition, size and other circumstances to include the place and occasion of the assault,” he added.
Tulfo also pointed to systemic failures, such as outdated data in the E-Warrant system leading to cases of mistaken identity.
He called for strict adherence to command responsibility, insisting that superiors must be held accountable alongside rank-and-file officers when operations go awry.
The lawmaker reminded the chambers that state forces exist to protect the public, not to become a source of community terror.
“Laws are created to provide peace and order in a society and we create law enforcement agencies such as our PNP, as well as the AFP, for national security purposes, to ensure that these laws are obeyed. But what happens when these law enforcers create fear and not a sense of peace? I think there is something wrong and we must do something, if not, we can consider ourselves as accomplices,” he stressed.