MANILA, July 6 (Xinhua) -- The decision of Philippine National Police chief to deploy two erring policemen to the besieged southern Philippine Marawi City has received flak from Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and local officials.
"I am just questioning the wisdom of doing so," Lorenzana said on Thursday, referring to the deployment by Gen. Ronald Dela Rosa of two police officers from metro Manila, who had misbehaved in the past.
Dela Rosa said his decision is to punish the Manila-based policemen who hit two men with rattan stick who were caught drinking on the street last month. One of the cops was caught on camera hitting one of the men with a stick, sparking outrage among netizens.
"Their punishment should not be Marawi assignment but sanctions such as suspension without pay or outright dismissal from the service," Lorenzana said.
He said Marawi City needs "good people," not scalawags. "We need good people here to fight this war," he said.
"We need some good people, volunteers to come here (in Marawi) and help (end) the problem. Now, if you will throw people who are problematic, you are just going to give problems to our commanders here," Lorenzana said.
Provincial Crisis Management Committee spokesman Zia Alonto Adiong said Dela Rosa's decision is flawed. "We are not a dumping round of rogue cops here," he said, adding the move "is quite offensive."
Instead, Adiong said the two erring cops should have been charged with administrative cases.
However, Dela Rosa said he believes that the deployment of two cops in Marawi will reform the erring officers.
"I guaranteed you after they are assigned (in Marawi) they will become the best cops that they can ever become," Dela Rosa said.
Government security forces have been trying to "liberate" the city from the clutches of Maute militants allied with the Islamic State (IS) since May 23. The 45-day battle to retake the city has dragged on to this day, killing at least 475 people.
