POLICE BLUNDERS | DOJ to scrutinize over 60 drug war cases after PNP shares information

May 25, 2021 , 03:29 PM

(May 25, 2021) – In a first, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has granted the Department of Justice (DOJ) access to over 60 cases of investigation against erring police officers in carrying out the brutal war on drugs policy of President Rodrigo Duterte.

DOJ secretary Menardo Guevarra on Monday told reporters that the 61 cases were earlier investigated by the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) of the PNP, finding administrative or criminal liability on the part of the blundering police officers. Its period of coverage remains unclear.

“We will know once we see the actual records,” said Guevarra. “What is significant right now is that the DOJ has been given free access, something that did not happen in previous years, thereby making our review rather difficult.”

As of December, the DOJ said only 328 out of the 916 cases brought to the National Prosecution Service have been reviewed, clarifying these were only part of an initial report. It was far lower than the 5,000 estimated cases Guevarra mentioned in a high-level United Nations meeting last February.

Guevarra admitted before the United Nations Human Rights Council that the PNP did not follow standard protocols in conducting anti-drug operations, repeatedly failing to coordinate with other agencies. No full examination of weapons was also conducted to verify the ownership of retrieved weapons from killed drug suspects.

PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar vowed to cooperate with the independent probe of the DOJ to closely look into the cases of extra-judicial killings committed by some police officers.

“I assure our good Justice secretary that the PNP has no tolerance for rogues, including those who may have committed unjustified killings in the course of anti-illegal drug operations, and that we are serious in cleansing our ranks,” said Eleazar.

Eleazar stated they’re willing to share additional cases with the DOJ as the investigation moves forward. Guevarra, for his part, said they will review which among these cases could be “ripe for criminal investigation.”

Some families of victims may have also filed separate criminal complaints against wayward PNP personnel, according to Guevarra, but he did not specify how many cases have already been filed. He also said people’s unwillingness to testify was the biggest challenge in prosecuting suspects.

Based on figures of the PNP, some 7,000 people died over the past five years as Duterte went all out in his bloody war on drugs. But human rights groups believe the actual count could hike up to 30,000, considering the law enforcers’ questionable manner of reporting deaths.

While the DOJ and the PNP consider their latest cooperation a huge development, the Human Rights Watch pointed out that this only manifests “tokenism” given the slow progress of investigations on cases against law authorities.

“Instead of spinning this as moving the needle for accountability, he (Guevarra) should convince his president to crack the whip on the police to force it to be more forthcoming and more serious about accountability,” said HRW Asia senior researcher Carlos Conde.

“There’s no urgency at all in the government’s response, even as the drug war killings continue to occur on a regular basis. The council should now see what’s happening for what it is: An effort to mislead the international community about the horrific rights situation in the Philippines.”

(Beatrice Puente/PM with reports from Marlene Alcaide and Pat Mangune, News 5)

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