No EJK without death penalty law — Andanar

MANILA — Communications Secretary Martin Andanar yesterday weighed in on the issue of extrajudicial killings, supposedly committed under the intensified war against illegal drugs, insisting that the so-called EJKs cannot happen in a country that doesn't have a death penalty law.

In an early Sunday morning interview on dzBB, Andanar debunked claims that the police have committed thousands of EJKs in the course of their anti-illegal drugs operations.

"Ang tanong ko, meron bang judicial killing sa bansa natin? Meron bang capital punishment? Wala. So, bakit may tinatawag na extrajudicial killings, e, wala nga tayong state-sanctioned killings."

State-sanction killing is not in our Constitution, he said. Therefore, those who have died in the war on drugs had either been killed in legitimate operations or executed by people engaged narcotic trade.

"Yung mga napatay, either namamatay sila dahil lumaban sa mga pulis sa antidrug operations or namamatay sila dahil nili-liquidate sila ng mga kasamahan nila sa drug industry," Andanar pointed out.

This government, he said, does not sponsor killings and does not sponsor EJKs because there is not such thing as "judicial killings" in our country.

Moreover, he claimed that the EJK is a European brand, a concept that is revolting to them. "In our country, there is no EJK."

On Saturday, Malacañang defended the Philippine National Police against criticisms arising from the PNP's report showing that there is no record of EJK case under President Rodrigo Duterte's administration.

"The PNP’s statement that there is no case of extrajudicial killing ... is based on the operational guidelines stated Administrative Order (AO) 35," Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said.