We had a run in with the po po, stood up to them and found ourselves being praised by the locals for resisting an abusive and hated local "auxiliary police".
While waiting for a boat to take us out to the helmet dive, my wife fired up a cigarette. Someone approached and told her she's not allowed to do that there. She killed it, wrapped it in paper and put it in her handbag.
Before we knew it there were, about ten (10), yes, ten! others in green uniform surrounding us. One was saying he was going to write a ticket and we needed to pay a fine. I politely asked if they could send us off with a warning since we put it out right away. They were in no mood to do so.
Now, note there were ten of them and it started to feel like they were out to bully. So we dug into our knowledge of the law and asked them who they were and by what authority were they waltzing around like the gestapo. That seemed to irk them and they shoved an ordinance in our faces and claimed to be the "auxiliary police" (I will call them auxi po po) under the Mayor's office. We read the ordinance and noted that it didn't say anything about fining persons who light up a cigarette in that area. The whole situation seemed so bizarre and their authority so questionable. We firmly told them that we want to talk to the police or at least to their superiors. Then there was an exchange of strong words both ways.
Note: by this time, our boat left us and our short time in Boracay was slipping away in a really distressful manner. We noticed that a lot of tourists and locals stopped to watch our little commotion.
Two PNP officers arrived. We spoke to them and they agreed that it shouldn't be a problem to send people off with a warning. When they mentioned that to the auxi po po, the indignant group, looking like enraged hooligans retorted that the ordinance does not say anything about warnings. They didn't seem to respect the real cops.
The auxi po po then said they want to take us to their office and we can talk there. I was aghast and said that they have no power to arrest and there's no way we'll go with them (ten of them!). They seemed to hate us all the more and seethe in anger.
Thankfully, this was the point that things were about to turn for the better. I decided to phone a friend who then talked to the PNP officers through my phone. After the conversation, the PNP officer directed the horde of auxi po pos to leave and for only one or two to remain. Then shortly thereafter, the head of the auxi po po arrived. He was level headed and quickly apologized for the trouble after a short conversation with us. He and the PNP officers were neutral at first but after hearing from the auxi po po, sided ever so clearly with us. I pointed out to the auxi po po, who was beginning to calm down being away from his wolf like pack, that they have some serious violations for surrounding us like a band of hyenas. Just like that, he extended a hand and apologized. He said that if only it was he who "apprehended" us, he would have been more polite. His boss cut him off and said not to even use the term "apprehend". The head of the auxi po po asked if he could apologize in behalf of his men and told them not to disrupt tourists vacations over small matters specially if there is compliance as in our case. We accepted his apology, shook hands and sought to re-start our vacation and just forget the unpleasant incident.
As we walked away, the PNP officers lamented to us that the auxiliary police often act like they are superior to the real cops. I told him that it's so dangerous for them to be given similar authority as the cops because they don't go through the same training and may not even be put to the same psychological examinations. They move around like thugs, with arrogance reeking through their pores.
Little did we know that we just scratched the surface. As we went on with our vacation, locals (who saw the incident) would randomly confide with us about horrifying incidents with the auxiliary police. One even told us that a poor local was "caught" smoking and could not pay the Php500 fine. The auxiliary police then forced this poor person to walk the length of the beach and pick up cigarette butts. She was only allowed to stop after filling a container made from a used plastic two liter container. They were amazed that we "stood up" to them. We became sort of the local story to tell, at least for the day.
The abuses of the auxiliary police are beyond ridiculous, they're sordid. I dispute the wisdom of having the auxiliary police and seriously doubt the legality.
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