Top critic of Philippine leader lauds policemen over cash-for-kills claim

MANILA: A jailed critic of Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte yesterday praised police who alleged in a Reuters report that officers received cash for executing drug suspects, and said an international criminal case should be filed against the president for crimes against humanity.

Senator Leila de Lima described as ‘brave and honorable men’ the two senior police officers, one still in service and the other already retired, who made the allegations about the conduct of officers during Duterte’s bloody war on drugs.

De Lima said the two officers, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, had given ‘testimonial proof that the extrajudicial killings are indeed state-sponsored and carried out upon direct orders of the president.’

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa on Friday challenged the two officers to come out and face him, according to GMA News online.

Close to 9,000 people have died since Duterte took office and promised an unrelenting campaign to rid the Philippines of illegal narcotics. About a third were killed in anti-drug operations in which officers said the victims had violently resisted arrest. Many other deaths were blamed on mysterious vigilantes who killed dealers and users, or homicides that could be unrelated to drugs. Police deny any involvement in those killings, most of which they say remain under investigation.

The two policemen who spoke to Reuters said PNP officers carried out most of the killings attributed to vigilantes.

“It is just a matter of time before all of the truth comes out in all its horrifying detail, of how a president took hold of a nation’s consciousness to promote social cleansing as a final solution to the nation’s problems,” De Lima said.