US support for PH cops continues, PNP training chief says

Philippine National Police. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Only the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) has stopped training members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) but the United States government continues to provide support to the PNP, a police official said on Thursday.

“The US is still supporting us. The international criminal investigation training assistance and anti-terrorism assistance program provided by the US were not affected,” Chief Supt. John Sosito, head of the PNP Training Service, said in a phone interview with INQUIRER.net.

Citing the Philippine government’s ruthless war on drugs, the SFPD has opted to halt their 16-year partnership training with the PNP.

The San Francisco police cut ties with the PNP because of “concerns over allegations of civil rights and human rights violations in the Philippines.”

READ: San Francisco Police ends training ties with PNP due to drug war

But Sosito said the SFPD has yet to communicate with the PNP.

“So far we have not received any official communication from them so it’s not good to speculate,” he said.

SFPD Retired Lieutenant Eric Quema, one of those who organized the Philippine exchange training program, said the Philippines, with the rising number of drug-related deaths and summary killings, is “in turmoil and trouble.”

“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.