PNP chief: Convoy had to use Edsa busway due to ‘emergency meeting’
- Should the police be exempt from bus lane rules? For emergencies, yes, PNP chief Gen. Rommel Marbil said in effect when he defended a convoy’s use of the Edsa busway for an “emergency meeting” at Camp Crame.
- Marbil declined to say whether he was in the convoy, citing security concerns.
- The urgent meeting at the camp that required the presence of ranking PNP officials was about a Chinese national who was kidnapped on Thursday last week and found on Tuesday night.
- As to the PNP convoy being flagged down, Marbil said: “If the police got caught, get the ticket. We’re all just doing our jobs.”
Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rommel Marbil on Wednesday defended a PNP convoy’s use of the Edsa busway the previous night, saying the officers in the vehicles needed to rush to Camp Crame for an “emergency meeting.”
But Marbil posed no objections to the PNP vehicles being flagged down by civilian enforcers and issued tickets for the lane violation, a hot-button issue especially for motorists barred from using the busway.
The PNP chief also didn’t confirm or deny whether he was in the convoy.
On Tuesday night, members of the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) Special Action and Intelligence Committee for Transportation (SAICT) stopped a convoy—made up of two sport utility vehicles and Highway Patrol Group motorcycles—as it passed through the Ortigas section of the busway going north.
Based on videos that later circulated online, the PNP convoy personnel asked the SAICT team to let them pass through since the “PNP chief” needed to reach Camp Crame immediately for an emergency meeting.
Chinese kidnapping case
In a radio interview, Marbil declined to say whether he was in the convoy, citing security concerns after the plate numbers of the vehicles got shown to the public in the videos and subsequent media reports.
But he explained that there was indeed an urgent meeting at the camp that required the presence of ranking PNP officials.
The meeting was about a Chinese national who was kidnapped on Thursday last week and found on Tuesday night. (See related story on this page.)
“There was an emergency and an issue that we had to resolve yesterday… We needed the presence of our police higher-ups because we had a closed-door meeting, because something happened during the operation last night,” he said.
As to the PNP convoy being flagged down, Marbil said the DOTr enforcers were “just doing their job.”
“We have to respect them. If the police got caught, get the ticket. We’re all just doing our jobs,” he added.
PNP spox: It was allowable
Earlier on Wednesday, PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo said opening the Edsa busway to police vehicles is actually allowed during emergencies.
“There is a provision in the guidelines that when PNP officers are in an urgent situation and [an] emergency, they can use the Edsa busway,” Fajardo said.
“(Those in the) convoy didn’t argue anymore and just appealed to let our officer be taken to Camp Crame first. They came back to get the ticket intended for their supposed violation,” she added.
According to DOTr guidelines, on-duty police vehicles are among those allowed to use the exclusive bus lane.
Also on the list of exempted vehicles are ambulances on duty, fire trucks, service vehicles used for busway-related operations, and the convoys of the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker and Chief Justice.
