The Crying Policeman

[Retz]

The story behind the crying cop





MANILA - It all started peacefully.

People were starting to converge along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City early Monday morning, a few hours before the State of the Nation Address.

Street vendors were selling kwek-kwek (quail eggs), bottled water and other drinks while kids were roaming around the car-free Commonwealth Avenue looking for coins dropped by passing vehicles the previous days.

What set the scene apart from an ordinary day along the busy highway: container trucks and barbed wires were in place, signs of things to come.

On the other side of the fenced area, policemen were lying on the road resting. Some of them had been posted there since two days ago.

Chaos

Around 11 a.m., a big group of activists arrived near Ever Gotesco Mall. The protests began.

Activists hurriedly removed the metal fence on the island, allowing them to bypass the police barricade. Anti-riot policemen from the other side of the road ran and tried to block them, but the protesters pushed through.

There was one policeman who flashed a peace sign to the protesters, asking them to remain calm. He urged activists to hold a dialogue instead of resorting to violence.

And then chaos began.

On one side, policemen blocked and pushed protesters away. On the other, activists told the first line of security that they wanted to go near Batasan Complex.

Rocks were thrown and people were hit with truncheons and shields. Most of the members of the media stayed on top of a dump truck to give them a good vantage view, while some remained in the middle, sandwiched by the clashing protesters and policemen.

Crying cop

It was a long and tiring dispersal. According to reports, at least 50 were injured in the clashes.

But amid the chaos, my lens caught a scene I thought I would never see during a dispersal.

A foreign protester was berating a policeman asking him why they were hurting the people. “Why are you doing this to us? Why are you hurting us?!”

The officer simply stood his ground. “I am a policeman, I’m just doing my job.”

He said his job was to maintain peace and order. He said they were given orders and they had to follow.

Suddenly, the police officer cried.

The foreigner kept on shouting at the cop. But the policeman couldn't stop crying. He was trying to hold his tears, but he couldn't.

Another round of clashes erupted. The policemen were still trying to push and shove the protesters away. The crying cop simply stood his ground. He was still holding his shield firmly. Still weeping, sobbing.

Later, I approached the policeman and asked him his name. He said he is Joselito. A quick glance at his name tag revealed he is policeman Joselito Sevilla.

He said he is a private, and his uniform patch showed he is from the Marikina police unit.

Asked why he cried, he only said: "Sa gutom at pagod. Walang tulog. Walang pahinga. Dalawang araw na kami naka-deploy dito. Tapos ganito, nagkakagulo."

It was also PO1 Sevilla's first dispersal assignment.

Realization

I finally understood him. No sleep. No food. No rest. And he came face-to-face with protesters whose goal was to break the police line.

Sevilla was physically and emotionally exhausted.

But he was following orders. He was just doing his job not to let protesters get near the Batasan Complex.

He did not hurt the protesters, even if some were already throwing rocks and hitting cops with wooden sticks.

Finally, some protesters noticed him, too: a policeman, whom they expected to retaliate, was in front of them, holding his shield firmly, weeping.

And then they started to console Sevilla. A man held his shoulder, telling him that everything would be all right. Another woman comforted him, as she tried to give him a handkerchief to wipe his tears.

Amid the chaos, these two protesters hugged Sevilla and assured him everything would be fine.

Seconds later, other policemen noticed what was happening and they moved Sevilla away from the front lines, away from the activists.

I was caught in the middle and I couldn't find him anymore. He was gone.

Show of strength

State forces, especially policemen, are expected to be firm and to not show emotions. What Sevilla did was not what was expected of him.

Did the other anti-riot policemen remove him from the front line?

This incident only shows we are all human beings. It is not bad to show weakness by crying; that we can still do our job, stand our ground, but still be peaceful and not hurt another human being; that two opposing groups can still show compassion as shown by the man and woman who hugged Sevilla.

Hours after the violent protests, I reviewed my set of photos taken during the day. I smiled when I saw the photo of the policeman flashing the peace sign before the dispersal. It was Joselito Sevilla.

Source: abscbnnews

[Manilablock]

if you ask one protesters why he is protesting, he may say he does not know, other may say he was paid to be here.

if you ask the police why they are blocking the protesters way, they will said i was paid to be here.


protesters are just pawns, they brake the line, drew blood, at the end of the day, the politicians whom supported the protester will sit in a air-conditioned office, drive a car exempted from color coding, fill gas for free, at have a big paycheck in the bank, all to the expense of the protesters and other taxpayers.


police are expected to enforce orders, regardless if they are hungry, cold or being hurt by the same people they wish to protect.

[chua_riwap]

yung mga protesters, may mga packed lunch yan, jolibee, mcdo, etc. may free transpo pa.
baka si crying PO1 eh laway lang ang baon. wala man lang pa softdrinks si general.

kaya ayan, naiyak sa hirap si PO1.

[kinyo]

kawawa naman ... hindi na nga pinakain ... wala pa kotong sa araw na yun

[Manilablock]

luma na kasi ung haharangan ng barbed wire ung mga protesters, sa isang video pinakita na meron baon na cutter ung protesters kaya pinutol lang ung barbed wire at nakalagpas sa bakod.

next time ang dapat iharang sa mga protesters ay mga pump truck ng malabanan (shempre meron laman galing sa septic tank), kung sino ang lalapit makakatangap ng water spray with contents.

malamang ang tataamaan na protesters naman ang iiyak.

[wezz_zzew]

Kulang kasi sa gamit mga anti-riot police natin. Dapat meron sila nung baril na net ang lumalabas para pag merong violent protester, un ung gagamitin nila tapos bigla nila hatakin papunta sa grupo nila. One more thing, pag nakahuli sila ng mga protester, ipila nila sa frontline para ung mga kasamahan nila, hindi makapang-bato.

[yapoy86]

isa pang issue dyan.. baket may FOREIGNER na sumali sa protesta.. diba bawal yun??

[foresterx]

Kulang kasi sa gamit mga anti-riot police natin. Dapat meron sila nung baril na net ang lumalabas para pag merong violent protester, un ung gagamitin nila tapos bigla nila hatakin papunta sa grupo nila. One more thing, pag nakahuli sila ng mga protester, ipila nila sa frontline para ung mga kasamahan nila, hindi makapang-bato.

dapat rubber bullets and rubber grenade katulad ng gamit sa ibang bansa. non lethal but sigurado taob ka sa sakit, pag net lang kasi pwede pa makalaban.tapos tanggalin yung mga human rights activist, imagine yung mga nag protesta na nag start ng sakitan pero nung mga pulis na bumabawi para protektahan nila sarili nila eh bigla bakit daw sinasaktan ang mga nag protesta.

[Ry_Tower]

luma na kasi ung haharangan ng barbed wire ung mga protesters, sa isang video pinakita na meron baon na cutter ung protesters kaya pinutol lang ung barbed wire at nakalagpas sa bakod.

next time ang dapat iharang sa mga protesters ay mga pump truck ng malabanan (shempre meron laman galing sa septic tank), kung sino ang lalapit makakatangap ng water spray with contents.

malamang ang tataamaan na protesters naman ang iiyak.

Maganda pa niyan, yung sa pump truck tubig imburnal ang lalabas.

[jick.cejoco]

to mr beer sum

mind your own f*cking business. even your country exploits women like hell. don't come into my house and tell me what to do, don't come into my house and expect me to cater to each of your whims. the filipinos have evolved from the bowing type to a type who would welcome you but with a hidden clinched fist. don't step into our country again. you are not welcome. bigots are not welcome

[shadow]

Flame thrower dapat


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#retzing

[holdencaulfield]

Flame thrower dapat


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#retzing

ito ang tama! tapos yung mga lapnos dalhin sa jollible para gawing burjer steak.

[_Cathy_]

Soylent green is people!

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#retzing

[donbuggy]

^ Spoiler Alert!

[remzam]

Wow i was just talking to a friend about the movie Soylent Green! Galing nung movie na yun!

Anyway back to topic tayo... kakaiba talaga yun. 2 supposedly warring groups expected to push and shove each other all of a sudden show compassion to each other.

There is still hope...

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[Retz]

[Monseratto]

Nahuli na si commie fanboi...I hope the leftist group don't turn him to a martyr turd...

BI nabs Dutch activist seen yelling at cop in SONA protest
InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

MANILA, Philippines -- Thomas van Beersum, the Dutch activist who drew attention after news photos captured him shouting at a policeman during a protest against President Benigno Aquino III's state of the nation address, was arrested Tuesday morning by the Bureau of Immigration as he was about to fly out of the country.

This was confirmed by Renato Reyes Jr., secretary general of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan.

Reyes told InterAksyon.com they had no idea why Beersum was "picked up" at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Nor were they aware of any charges filed against the Dutch national, who was in the country to attend an international human rights conference.

He added that Beersum has yet to talk to his counsel from the National Union of People's Lawyers.

"We in Bayan strongly denounce the detention of Dutch activist Thomas van Beersum by the Bureau of Immigration," Reyes said in a Facebook post.

"We demand his immediate release as he is already on his way out of the country. We demand that his rights be respected, that he not be paraded like a criminal and that he is allowed to confer with his lawyers from NUPL led by Atty. Rey Cortez and the different human rights groups," Reyes added.

The photo of Van Beersum at the SONA protest drew widespread criticism, including calls for his deportation, from netizens, but also saw others defending his involvement in local issues.

[falken]

Nahuli na si commie fanboi...I hope the leftist group don't turn him to a martyr turd...

Kick him out of the country, preferably with a huge boot mark on his *ss.

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[romeocharlie]

Dapat yang si renato reyes pinapatapon sa mindanao, siya itong pasimuno ng mga rally na wala naman kakwenta kwenta..


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[K.I.L.L.]

Why do foreigners think they know better! We don't go to their country to protest. Heck if we did, we'd probably get locked up while here, these guys get treated with kiddie gloves. If he's here to attend a human rights conference, then he shouldn't be involved in a protest on the SONA.