Pangasinan PNP stations fly flags at half mast
LINGAYEN– The Pangasinan Provincial Police Office (PPPO) ordered on Monday (January 26) that the Philippine flag at the their stations be flown on half mast, following the massacre of about 50 Special Action Force (SAF) members in an encounter with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
According to PPPO spokesperson Supt. Ferdinand De Asis, it is the tradition of the Philippine National Police that the national flag in the police units is flown at half mast when a member of the Philippine National Police (PNP) dies a heroic death while serving the country.
The flag at half mast will be in effect until further notice, De Asis added.
Gov. Amado T. Espino, a former Pangasinan PNP provincial director, expressed his denunciation “in the strongest terms possible the insane, inhuman and bestial killing of 44 members of the Philippine National Police – Special Action Force” in that encounter last Sunday, January 25.
Former police director and now Pangasinan second district representative, Leopoldo Bataoil, in his press statement, also condemned the bloody encounter killing the PNP-SAF members in the province of Maguindanao.
“It’s very unfortunate that this had to happen at the height of the deliberations on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) in Congress,” Bataoil noted.
His condemnation followed an earlier decision of Senate Majority Floor Leader Alan Peter Cayetano to withdraw his co-authorship of the BBL bill.
The senator said, “With the recent events involving the slaughter of our policemen in Mindanao, there is reason to doubt the commitment of the MILF for a framework of peace and development in Mindanao.” (Johanne Macob /PNA)
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