DOJ chief: PNP may have failed to follow protocols in war vs drugs

JUSTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra has confirmed before the United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that the interagency review panel on anti-illegal drugs operations has documented certain violations by some police operatives of standard protocols on coordination and processing of crime scenes.

In the Philippine statement at the high-level segment of the 46th Human Rights Council Session, Guevarra told participants that the initial findings was the result of the reexamination of cases conducted by the Inter-agency Review Panel involving anti-illegal drug operations where deaths occurred.

Despite the admission, however, Guevarra reiterated the government’s rejection for international groups to assume jurisdiction over the investigation of the anti-illegal drugs campaign being waged by the Duterte administration.

He said the issues surrounding the all-out war against drugs campaign are considered internal matters, “which are being addressed more than adequately by our national institutions and authorities.”

“In closing, the Philippines strongly emphasizes that its legal and judicial system and domestic accountability mechanisms are functioning as they should,” Guevarra stressed.

The justice chief announced in June last year the creation of the panel following reports of human-rights abuses and extrajudicial killings in the police’s all-out war against illegal drugs campaign under the Duterte administration.

Despite the challenges due to restrictions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, Guevarra said, the DOJ contingent was able to gather available records on certain key areas and cities where most deaths related to anti-drug operations may have occurred.

“Our initial and preliminary findings confirm that in many of these cases, law enforcement agents asserted that the subject of the antidrug operations resisted arrest or attempted to draw a weapon and fight back,” Guevarra noted.

“Yet no full examination of the weapon recovered was conducted, no verification of its ownership undertaken, and no request for ballistic examination or paraffin test was pursued until its completion,” he added.

Guevarra said that it was also noted during the examination of records “in more than half of the records reviewed, the law enforcement agents involved failed to follow standard protocols pertaining to coordination with other agencies and processing of the crime scene.”

Guevarra also said the panel’s findings have been referred to the Philippine National Police.

In turn, the DOJ chief said, the PNP informed the panel that it had conducted an internal probe of thousands of these incidents and had recommended administrative and criminal action against “scores of police officers.”

Guevarra said it is within the panel’s task to ensure that proper disciplinary authorities would carry out these sanctions and cases against erring police officers.

“We are expecting the PNP to submit to us the recommendation of their Internal Affairs Service [IAS] for administrative and criminal action against those PNP personnel found liable, so that we can verify if their recommendations have actually been carried out,” the DOJ chief pointed out.

In an interview with reporters, Guevarra said any member of the panel may file an appropriate complaint before the DOJ against policemen involved if the PNP would not act on the recommendation of its IAS.

The panel is also eyeing to reach out to the families of the victims of these anti-illegal drug operations so that they could act as complainants.

The initial findings of the panel covered review of anti-illegal drug operations in Bulacan, Pampanga, Cavite and parts of the National Capital Region where numerous deaths were recorded.

DOJ Undersecretary Adrian Sugay, for his part, said that the panel was able to review the cases that were filed at the National Prosecution Service (NPS).

As of December 11 last year, a total of 916 cases were filed but only 328 cases were made available for review.

The panel intends to review a total of 5,655 antiillegal drugs operations where deaths occurred, Guevarra said, in his report last June during the 44th UNHRC Human Rights Council Session.