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Saturday, will be the day when more than a hundred policemen from the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) are required to attend a refresher course on human rights which will be conducted by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). CHR chairman Leila de Lima said that the security forces should get an “indoctrination of sorts” on human rights.

The participants in the day-long seminar will be coming from various offices of the QCPD, but majority of which are assigned to the frontlines, de Lima said. “The knowledge of human rights will be a key factor to be able to deal with people especially in highly-tense situations such as rallies, nabbing incidents, etc.” she added.

The said police department have found itself recently embroiled with controversies where its men allegedly overstepped boundaries such as the alleged EDSA shootout with suspected car thieves last February, and their handling of the investigation of the death of Trina Etong, the wife of broadcaster Ted Failon.

De Lima said that the police force should “live up” to the public’s expectation of them as the “people’s protector,” and reminded them that they are not “ordinary citizens” in a way they that are authorized not just to arm themselves but to also apprehend suspected lawless elements. “As such, they have not the right to go overboard and be over-handed and excessive in their actuations,” she added.

During the one-day training, topics to be discussed include the Police Authority and their Obligations on the Human Rights of the People, Police Operations vis-à-vis the Philippine Political Spectrum, and the roles and rights of media in the promotion and protection of human rights.

A dialogue between the QCPD and the CHR chairman is also part of the day’s program. De Lima issued an order recently to the CHR human rights education course for the police and military, as well as make any adjustments necessary to adapt to the present situation.