ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 25, 2008) – A radio reporter in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines have complained Tuesday that he was verbally abused by an officer of the Traffic Management Group (TMG) of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
The TMG, formerly known as Highway Patrol Group, enforces traffic laws and regulations and has been tapped in anti-carnapping and anti-hijacking operations. It supervises also the printing of PNP vehicle clearances in coordination with Land and Transportation Office.
Santos Cortez, 29, of the Radio Mindanao Network-dxRZ Radyo Agong, said the incident occurred at the TMG office in Zamboanga City. Cortez was to interview the new TMG regional chief, but since the official was not available he asked to interview the deputy chief, Supt. Daniel Mayoni instead.
Mayoni at first hesitated to give an interview about the TMG’s accomplishments in Zamboanga, but later changed his mind.
But Mayoni was apparently irked after learning that the interview was being recorded and cursed Cortez in front of TMG personnel.
“I was not bringing any particular issue for interview, since I was informed there's a new chief of the TMG Western Mindanao, I feel its proper to determine from the said office their latest concerns and campaigns,” Cortez said.
“Since the deputy chief Supt. Daniel Mayoni is around, I decided to interview him and at first he hesitated but later gave me some details like the number of stolen vehicles and he was conscious that I was using my MP3 for recording.”
As Mayoni is giving more details, Cortez said he moved his recorder nearer to the officer to catch his voice more clearly. “And that's where he got mad. Mayoni suddenly raised his voice in the presence of three other persons inside the room saying, patayin mo yan, patayin mo yan, gago ka pala dinadaya mo ako (Turn it off, turn it off, you fool, you're making a fool out of me).”
Cortez, shocked with Mayoni's reaction took back the recorder, but the officer snatched and slammed it on the table, NUJP said.
“I was really embarrassed and afraid of his actuations, it was my first time to encounter such behavior from a police colonel,” Cortez said.
Cortez said the voice clip was important for his report. “Sound bytes are really important for us to make our report,” he said.
The independent media watchdog, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) in Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi Chapter tried to reach Mayoni to get his side but he did not return the message. The NUJP has condemned Mayoni's act and demanded for a public apology.
Local newspaper editors said they would embargo all news and press releases from the TMG until Mayoni apologize for his conduct, which is unbecoming of an officer of the law.
The TMG hit the headlines in November 2005 after it killed three alleged carjackers - Anton Cu-Unjieng, Francis Xavier Manzano and Bryan Anthony Dulay - in a shootout near a posh village in Pasig City. But television footage taken at the scene by an independent cameraman showed TMG officers approaching the car and firing at the victims simultaneously.
The Commission of Human Rights (CHR), which investigated the incident, also said there was no shootout, but rubout. A government forensic expert Raquel Fortun who was advising the (CHR), said her findings showed that the victims did not fire any weapons.
Other reports said the three victims, who belonged to prominent families, were allegedly killed by the TMG operatives on suspicion they were members of a crime syndicate called Valle Verde gang. (Mindanao Examiner)
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