Thousands detained in Philippines' anti-loiterers drive

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02:44

Police in the Philippines are busier than ever; that’s not an understatement.

Night after night since June 13, they have been rounding up thousands in what was initially dubbed by police leadership as an “anti-loiterers” campaign. The order, as understood by the public then, came from President Rodrigo Duterte, who in a speech described loiterers as potential trouble.

“Go home,” Duterte said, “or else I will tie your hands and throw you into Pasig (river). I’ll take care of it.”

It was not the first time Duterte had threatened “tambay(s)”, the Filipino word for loiterers. In a speech in September last year, Duterte said that while loitering per se is not a crime, it’s best to clear streets at night so that those walking home, especially women, could do so with peace of mind.

No follow up from police then but this time around, police wasted no time putting Duterte’s words into action. It also did not take long before allegations of abuses surfaced.

CGTN team with Metro Manila police as they scour the city streets for what they initially called “loiterers” /CGTN Photo

“Don’t you watch television?” Matt Dimaranan quoted police as asking him and five other friends, who were apprehended while waiting outside a friend’s home, in a Facebook post. The police officer then showed him a video clip of Duterte’s speech, Dimaranan wrote.

After a few hours in detention, Dimaranan and his friends were released, but Dimaranan said he still does not know what they did wrong.

It is precisely the kind of incident, however, critics have warned could happen.

“What are the elements of the crime that have to be proven in the violation of an ordinance? You have to be very specific. You’re just standing and then the police will arrest you?” Leah Armamento, a commissioner at Commission on Human Rights, the government’s rights watchdog, said in an interview with CGTN.

A man is caught smoking outdoor by police. It’s one of the minor offenses, along with drinking and being shirtless, that Philippine police has turned its attention to. /CGTN Photo

Some, like 19-year old Ariel Villamor, do appreciate what police are doing. “We think it’s for our safety too, especially since we’ve heard of shooting incidents in our area,” Villamor told ABS-CBN News.

Three people were picked up by police for smoking in public, and six minors for staying out after the 10 p.m. curfew, when CGTN rode with police a week into what was then called “anti-loitering” campaign. Before we left the precinct, three men were being accosted for hanging out in public shirtless. The precinct’s jail cell was overflowing with detainees, many of whom were in for minor offenses.

Genesis Argoncillo, 25, died while in the custody of police. His death certificate indicates he may have been mauled to death. Two inmates have been charged with homicide. /CGTN Photo

Genesis “Tisoy” Argoncillo was detained for days in a crowded jail. Police say he was arrested for alarm and scandal, but witnesses have gone on national television to say that Argoncillo’s only offense was being shirtless. He died while in detention.

“It hurts so much to lose him like that. The store he went to was so close to our house, I wouldn’t even consider it a public place. The way I see it, he was shirtless in our own place,” his sister Marilou Argoncillo told CGTN.

The initial account of police was that Argoncillo died of suffocation, but his death certificate indicates that he died of multiple blunt force trauma. Two inmates have been charged for homicide.

Argoncillo’s sister, Marilou, had been willing to move on after she will have bailed her brother out, but now she’s demanding justice for a death that she describes as senseless.

Genesis Argoncillo’s sister, Marilou, insists her brother was picked up by police simply for being shirtless, not for alarm and scandal as police claim. She says it hurts to think about how her brother’s life ended. /CGTN Photo

Five policemen, including the head of the police precinct where Argoncillo died, have been relieved from their posts pending investigation. Police vow punitive action against their own men found to have violated human rights and their own guidelines. Officials insist, however, that violations are few and far between.

Despite calls to suspend the new anti-crime drive and a senator filing a resolution for an investigation, the country’s police chief Oscar Albayalde says street operations will continue.

And after veering away from his earlier statement, President Rodrigo Duterte now says only the Supreme Court can stop police from making warrantless arrests of those found to be violating local ordinances. He says rounding up minors who are out late, in particular, is for the youth’s own protection.

[Cover: Jail cells in local precincts have gotten even more crowded with the arrest of thousands for violation of local laws. /CGTN Photo]

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