PNP PLAN TO REVIVE ALSA MASA-LIKE NETWORK COULD PROVOKE MORE EJKS

*Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros on PNP's plan to revive an Alsa Masa-like group

The Alsa Masa was a dreaded paramilitary group in the 1980s notorious for its lawless activities, human rights abuses and extrajudicial killings of suspected "enemies of the state." For the Philippine National Police (PNP) to draw inspiration from this group to allegedly deepen its relationship with the communities and augment its anti-drug campaign is not only foolish, it is tacit approval of the group's atrocious legacy and an invitation to more extrajudicial killings.

I fear that reviving an Alsa Masa-like network will only provoke more extrajudicial killings in the country. It will also further blacken the already tarnished reputation of the PNP and isolate it from the public. And this time around, the police force will have no teleserye to blame for its diminished public credibility.