SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco Bay Area cops will no longer train members of the Philippine National Police because of a bloody war on drugs where Philippine police are suspected of killing drug users and drug dealers.
California law enforcement officers did a mission in the Philippines just last year. The officers trained Philippine national police on how to better fight crime and donated police equipment. The 16-year-long partnership is now over.
The San Francisco Police Department says they’ve ended their partnership training because of “concerns over allegations of civil rights and human rights violations in the Philippines.” SFPD’s Philippine Exchange Training Program began in 2000.
San Francisco Police Department Retired Lieutenant Eric Quema was an organizer with the Philippine exchange training program. “Our nation [the Philippines] is in turmoil and trouble and it just gets worse and worse. Economically, because of this controversy, it affects every segment of making us a better nation and better people,” Quema told San Francisco CBS affiliate 5KPIX.