By Rodolfo Dacleson II
(October 12, 2024) – A progressive group on Saturday said the Philippine National Police (PNP) became a “killing machine” during the heavy-handed term of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Akbayan Party-list made the remark after former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) chief Royina Garma revealed on Friday that Duterte implemented his brutal war on drugs based on the “Davao model,” wherein police officers were rewarded for killing suspects.
“The PNP was clearly turned into a killing machine by the previous government,” said Atty. Chel Diokno, Akbayan’s first nominee in the 2025 midterm elections, in a media release. “Everyone involved in the war on drugs must be held accountable, led by Duterte and his cohorts.”
Diokno urged the government to probe the authenticity of Garma’s claims quickly.
She made the allegations during the hearing of the quad committee in the House of Representatives, which is investigating the alleged ties between Duterte’s bloody war on drugs, extrajudicial killings, the drug trade, and Philippine offshore gaming operators.
Garma was appointed by Duterte as general manager of the PCSO just days after retiring as the chief of Cebu City Police.
ALSO READ: OPINION | Duterte’s Drug War: A secret, parallel police organization within the PNP
Human rights groups estimated that around 30,000 individuals were killed during Duterte’s merciless war on drugs.
“No civilized society can tolerate giving rewards for the taking of human lives. Criminals must be punished in accordance with the law, not killed. We must never ever have a police force that is both judge and executioner,” said Diokno.
Garma and recently resigned National Police Commission commissioner Edilberto Leonardo were implicated by former police official Santie Mendoza behind the assassination of PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga in 2020. Duterte was the alleged mastermind.
ALSO READ: Cop tags Duterte appointees Garma, Leonardo behind murder of ex-PCSO official
Diokno also called for the passing of the PNP Discipline Act to hold police officers accountable for their illicit acts.
“The police cannot discipline their own ranks. A civilian agency like the Civil Service Commission should have the sole and exclusive power to discipline members of the PNP,” added the human rights lawyer.
(PM)
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