WHAT HAZING? Health issues down police trainees

By: Jennifer P. Rendon 

Dehydration. Pneumonia. Pregnancy.

These were the initial findings on the possible cause of hospitalization of three police trainees of the PNP Regional Special Training Unit (RSTU)-6.

“So far, we found no evidence of a possible hazing,” Police Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Makasil, RSTU-6 officer-in-charge, said after three rookie policemen landed in the hospital in three separate occasions.

Reports of alleged hazing at the RSTU-6 came to fore after “several” trainees were rushed to Sara District Hospital in Sara town, where the training unit is also headquartered.

Speculations later arose that the trainees might have been subjected to intense physical training or possibly beating.

But Makasil said that the three trainees – two women and a man – were taken to the hospital in three separate instances and reasons.

Three days ago, one of the female cops was hospitalized for alleged dehydration. The following day, the male trainee was confined for pneumonia.

On Monday evening, a second female trainee was also confined for an illness. “But it appeared that she is pregnant,” Makasil said.

The RSTU-6 is a PNP national support unit, thus it is not under the administrative control of Police Regional Office (PRO)-6.

RSTU-6 was headquartered in Sara town only recently.

In fact, the 321 police trainees who are currently undergoing Basic Internal Security Operations Course (BISOC) are the second batch of trainees of RSTU-6.

The BISOC trainees took their oath as newbies cops in 2018.

“Baka nanibago sila on how rigid and strenuous the training was,” Makasil, who assumed his post on Dec. 13, 2019, said.

To allay fears, the PNP Regional Health Service based in Camp Martin Delgado, Iloilo City went to the area to check on the three hospitalized trainees and their colleagues.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong, PRO-6 spokesman, said they will conduct further investigation depending on the result of the RHS-6 examination.

“That’s the time the Regional Learning Doctrine Development Division would decide if they order Sara Police Station to do a probe,” Malong said.

But so far, Makasil said they found no hematoma on the three trainees to suggest that they were hazed.

Thus, “wala namang dapat ikabahala (They have nothing to worry about),” he said.