No need to secure Duterte’s approval
Malacañang on Monday clarified that the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the Office of the Ombudsman need not get prior permission from President Rodrigo Duterte before investigating military or police officers.
In a Palace briefing, Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the CHR and the Office of the Ombudsman are both created under the Constitution and are supposed to be independent.
“They have to do their own mandates. When the President said that he’d be informed if any soldier or law enforcer will be undergoing any investigation, I presume he was speaking as Commander-in-Chief and not as Chief Executive,” the Palace official said.
In a press conference after his second State of the Nation Address last week, Duterte said he would not allow his security forces to go to the CHR to be investigated for alleged human rights violations.
“Human Rights Commission, you address your request through me because the Armed Forces is under me and the police is under me. Kaya pag kinu- westyon ninyo sila for investigation, dadaan muna sa akin,” the President said.
Guevarra explained that what the President meant was that as Commander-in-Chief, it would be a lot better if he is informed about an investigation of a law enforcer or a soldier under his command.
“That’s how I understand the President’s statement. He is a lawyer. He is a prosecutor. He knows criminal law, criminal procedure very well, and he knows the limits of what he can do and what he can’t,” he said.
“As I said, he is also a lawyer and he knows that these other agencies have their own mandates, have their own procedures. So they are free to do what they want to do in accordance with their own mandates,” he added.
Guevarra made the clarification after the CHR said it would investigate the police’s pre-dawn raid on the house of Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog that resulted in the death of the mayor and 14 others Sunday. Allegations have been made about the raid being an overkill and tainted with irregularity.