After teen killing, lawmakers back measure on body cameras for cops

DEPUTY Speaker and Las Pinas Rep. Camille Villar on Tuesday called for the passage of a measure institutionalizing the use of wearable body cameras in legitimate law enforcement operations.

Villar made the statement in light of the recent killing of a Navotas teenager which led to public outrage.

Villar, author of House Bill 8352 which seeks to mandate the use of body cameras and police dashcams, said the case of 17-year-old Jemboy Baltazar, who was shot and killed by police in what they con- sidered as a mistaken identity, is a “huge setback” in delivering greater transparency in police operations.

On August 2, Baltazar and his friend were preparing their boat to go fishing when a cop ordered them to get off. Baltazar’s friend, who survived unscathed, said they tried to surrender but the police kept shooting, prompting the former to jump into the river.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has admitted “lapses” in the Navotas operation and said the officers directly involved had either failed to turn on their body cams or that the devices ran out of battery. Under Villar’s proposal, all footage taken using a body cam shall be retained for one year and for another three years if the video captures an “interaction or event involving any use of force or an encounter about which a complaint has been registered by a subject of the footage.”

The national police force had said they had deployed body cams in 2021, but admitted many police officers were not properly observing protocols and use of such devices. Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta