Police officer mauls, arrests radio reporter

CMFR/ Philippines – A senior police officer allegedly mauled and arrested a radio reporter on November 10 in a police station in Marikina City, Metro Manila. The police officer has been relieved from his post pending an investigation.

DzRH reporter Edmar Estabillo was at the Marikina City Police Station at around 8 a.m. to check the police blotter. The reporter asked SPO2 Manuel Layson, who was passing by, if he could access the police blotter. Layson asked Estabillo for his identification card. The reporter failed to show his ID, which he had forgotten to bring that day, but insisted that he was from the media. He was also wearing his station’s uniform with the dzRH logo on it. Estabillo also said that he regularly goes to the police station as he is assigned to the police beat.

Layson allegedly got irritated and asked Estabillo to come to the investigation room. Then, Layson allegedly hit and handcuffed the reporter. Estabillo said in an interview in dzRH that while he was being beaten up by Layson, other police officers were just watching.

Estabillo was brought to Amang Rodriguez Medical Center for checkup.

In another interview in dzRH, Layson insisted that he did not hit the reporter and added that it was the reporter who first pointed a finger at him. He claimed that he handcuffed Estabillo because he “resisted arrest.”

DzRH condemned the police officer’s act in a statement. “MBC-DZRH considers the act of SPO2 Layson, not only as a criminal violation of Mr. Estabillo’s rights, an abuse of authority but also as an attack on MBC-DZRH’s and its reporter’s constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of the press,” said the statement.