Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Guillermo Eleazar on Sunday said regular assessments of the mental and emotional stability of policemen will prevent incidents such as the one Friday night, when a drunk cop ran amuck in the Manila Police Headquarters and killed one of his colleagues and injured another.
M/Sgt. Reynante Dipasupil, who began shooting at about 11:30 p.m., died about an hour later at the nearby Manila Doctors Hospital along UN Avenue due to gunshot wounds to different parts of the body.
Eleazar said in a video message on Sunday that the PNP Health Service is finalizing recommendations for a psychiatric-psychological exam for policemen.
Dipasupil's shooting spree came less than a month after another drunk policeman shot and killed a woman at point-blank range in Fairview, Quezon City.
In December last year, a Parañaque cop gunned down his two neighbors in Tarlac after complaining about their noise.
“This recent incident at MPD, along with the previous ones, highlights the need for us to closely look into the overall state of our men,” Eleazar said. “We also have to look after their emotional and physical state, not just how they do their jobs.”
Eleazar said he is considering psychological exams at least every three years as part of efforts to improve the general welfare of PNP members, especially those involved in ground operations.
Based on initial information, Dipasupil indiscriminately fired his weapon at different offices, including that of MPD Director Brig. Gen. Leo Francisco.
Dipasupil wounded S/Sgt. Reynaldo Cordova and encountered M/Sgt. Romeo Cantal and PS/Sgt. Ferdinand Francia as he tried to escape.
Another shootout ensued, wounding Dipasupil and Cantal.
Cantal died at around 3:10 a.m. Saturday at the Manila Medical Center, while Cordova is already out of danger.
“We commend the cops who tried to stop Dipasupil, particularly Romeo
Cantal who lost his life. We grieve with the family of Sergeants
Dipasupil and Cantal, and we assure them of our assistance, along with another policeman who was wounded during that attack,” said Eleazar.
Eleazar said the MPD was conducting a thorough investigation.
“The investigation I ordered on the unfortunate incident at the Manila Police District goes beyond the shooting as this includes other aspects such as possible mental health issues of all our personnel,” he added.
Francisco said Dipasupil was not on duty on Friday evening but insisted on retrieving a weapon from his office, which was locked.
“He broke the doors down and took a rifle. He also had his service firearm on him, but we've now recovered all of the weapons,” Francisco said.
MPD said Dipasupil fired a weapon once, then went to the ground floor.
The suspect then fired at Francisco’s office, but the director was not in at the time.
The MPD chief reiterated his earlier directive to all unit chiefs and station commanders to continue their daily accounting of personnel twice a day and to talk to their men constantly, so as to assess their state of mind.
Francisco also said that he will have the district’s Health Service evaluate the findings of the investigation and determine what triggered the incident.