SUMMARY
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
Talk about a case of the wrong joke at the worst possible time.
Amid outcry over a cramped, unventilated, and hidden detention facility inside a police station in Tondo, Manila, the director of the Manila Police District (MPD) chose to crack a joke during a press conference on Friday, April 28.
“Ang media, we’re giving you one night free accommodation sa jail para malaman ninyo at ma-feel ninyo kung gaano po, para ma report niyo rin. You are given one night free accommodation. Ang CHR, we’ll give them the executive suite. Para malaman lang. Ang hirap talaga ng kalagayan nila,” said a chuckling Coronel, who was appointed MPD chief in July 2016.
(To the media, we’re giving you one night free accommodation in jail so you know what it’s like, so you can report on it too. You are given one night free accommodation. For the Commission on Human Rights, we’ll give them the executive suite. Just so you know. The situation is really tough.)
Coronel had just inspected the MPD Station 1 in Tondo, Manila, alongside his boss, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Oscar Albayalde.
The press conference was supposed to be over when Coronel cracked the joke. The doorstop interview went on for 10 more minutes after the one-star police general cracked the joke.
Hours earlier, a Commission on Human Rights (CHR) team made a surprise visit to the police station and discovered 12 or so drug suspects detained inside a narrow alleyway that served as their “temporary” detention facility. The entrance to the passage was covered by a bookshelf.
Station commander Superintendent Robert Domingo, insists everything was above board and that the suspects were arrested during “one time, big time” operations ahead of the ASEAN Summit. He has since been relieved, alongside the Drug Enforcement Unit of the station, as they face a police probe.
Prior to and even after cracking the joke, both Coronel and Albayalde harped on the long-standing problem of overcrowded detention facilities not just in the MPD or NCRPO, but in almost every police station in the country.
Albayalde said he “welcomed” the CHR visit, since it puts a spotlight on the sorry condition of jails nationwide.
“That is a welcome development for all of us, for everybody para makita kung ano ang sitwasyon talaga ng mga nakakulong. Hindi lang po dito sa Metro Manila yan. Siguro baka buong Pilipinas yan dahil during the time na nagstart tayo ng war on drugs talagang napuno nang napuno yung ating mga detention cells, lalong lalo na dito sa Metro Manila dahil napakarami na nating mga arestado na involved sa illegal drugs dito,” he said.
(That is a welcome development for all of us, for everybody so we see the situation of those who are jailed. It’s not just in Metro Manila. Maybe in the entire country because since we started the war on drugs, the detention cells have been full, especially in Metro Manila, where there have been so many arrested because of their involvement in illegal drugs.)
Coronel said most MPD jails – detention facilities inside police stations – are “overcrowded by almost 50 to 60%.”
He said the hidden detention facility behind the bookcase was “an initiative” by Domingo given the situation. – Rappler.com
Add a comment
How does this make you feel?
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.