CHR-7: Cops uncooperative in probe
The chief investigator of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR)-7 said the local police force failed to cooperate with the agency’s separate probe into the killings that allegedly involved police officers.
Leo Villarino, head of the Investigation Section of CHR-7, warned that if this situation continues, this event may lead to the culture of impunity in which government forces are free from their liabilities.
He said the officers refused to comply with the documents they requested, like police investigation and autopsy results.
He emphasized that the commission would only want to hear out the side of all parties, including the police, before it decides upon a certain case determining whether government forces have committed human rights violations.
“There is zero compliance. They are not complying with anything, of any document. Not a single piece of document has been given to us, despite the subpoena that we have issued. No personnel of the police ever appeared into our office for the investigation,” Villarino said.
He disclosed that CHR7 is currently investigating at least 13 docketed cases of killings that involved police officers or resulted from antidrug operations.
These cases include the separate killings of two Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) officers – Baby “Earl” Rallos and Von Rian Tecson – and the purported attempt to kill Barangay Tejero councilman Jessielou Cadungog.
“The idea is we want to get documents to get their side and it is part of due process they are asking. But you know they are already avoiding us. So, it simply means they are waving the right to due process. They don’t want to participate. They don’t want their side to be heard,” said Villarino.
He said the police are only playing “lip service” when they earlier committed to cooperate with CHR-7.
He added that the police’s refusal to cooperate may be part of the coverup scheme by the police officials as they do not want their personnel to be crossexamined.
“If they do not want to cooperate, the outcome of this, firstly, it means they do not want to be held accountable. If you translate that, that leads to impunity. Because what they want is we believe to the stories they tell us,” he said.
“They cannot blame us later on of what recommendation we can come up on these cases,” he said.
Police Regional Office (PRO)-7 Chief Debold Sinas, for his part, said that they only following protocols in not sharing documents to the CHR.
Sinas said that since last year, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) barred police offices from sharing documents with the CHR, without permission from the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters.
“There is an existing directive from the Office of the President barring us giving documents sa ilaha because we seek approval from the national office. Dili mi nga di mi cooperative, gitubag na namo sila nga aduna’y presidential directive didto, barring us from giving them, unless approved from our national office,” Sinas said.
Former (DILG) Undersecretary Catalino Cuy had said that President Rodrigo Duterte directed personnel, to ask permission from the higher headquarters first before releasing case files.
The order in barring CHR from having copies of police case files came in the wake of the public backlash against the police when the manhandling of 17-year-old Kian Lloyd Delos Santos from Caloocan City was captured by a CCTV footage.
The controversy on Kian’s death was pinned to the police and consequently led to the approval ratings of Duterte to decrease.
Sinas said they have always made sure to respond to the CHR to direct their request to the higher headquarters by responding through letters.
He said it will take time before any request is approved but rest assured, they will give documents once approved.
He said that despite the existing policies, they are fully coordinating with the CHR. In fact, in September police officers will attend a symposium about Human Rights.
Meanwhile, Sinas also assured that they will look into the manifesto made by the members of several cause-oriented groups which formed the social movement condemning the spate of killings in Cebu.
“We received their manifesto, we will study it, and we will keep you informed,” Sinas said.