DOJ to release drug war report with ‘not so flattering’ findings vs cops at ‘proper time’

MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Friday assured that the drug war review that yielded some “not so flattering” findings against some police personnel would be publicized at the right time.

“We provided a copy of the report where we made certain findings, not so flattering against certain police enforcement officers involved [in] drug operations and we gave the PNP (Philippine National Police) sufficient time to comment on these findings,” Guevarra said in a televised briefing.

“But be assured that this report, at least the findings and the highlights of this report, will be made public at the proper time,” he added.

Guevarra said the report is not yet complete as other areas are being investigated, but assured there is “no intent to hide” the findings.

“We do not want to make it appear [that our] findings in certain pilot areas like Region III, Region IV and certain major cities [are] truly representative of what is happening throughout the country,” Guevarra said.

“At the proper time, we will share our findings with the public, with the media, but we will also include [some] actions that we intend to take arising from these findings. [So we are just waiting for the right time to share these] but there is no intent to hide,” he added.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently submitted to President Rodrigo Duterte its initial report on the review of drug war deaths.

READ: Guevarra says drug war report submitted to Duterte; vows to engage with CHR

The war against illegal drugs was the primary presidential campaign promise of Duterte when he ran in 2016.

While it led to the seizure of billions worth of illegal drugs,  human rights groups both locally and internationally had condemned the administration’s bloody anti-crime drive.

From July 2016 until December 2020, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said 5,980 suspected drug suspects had been killed in police operations.

READ: PDEA says 5,980 suspects killed; 269,046 nabbed in anti-drug ops since July 2016

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