MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) decision to open for review its records of 61 drug war operations where suspects died is a step in the right direction, according to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia said on Wednesday that they hope this is the beginning of heightened cooperation and transparency between PNP and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to clarify doubts and allegations that police operations do not adhere to human rights standards.
“[CHR] acknowledges the decision of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to open 61 cases of police operations for review, particularly those allegedly resulted in the deaths of drug suspects. PNP’s willingness in opening these cases for scrutiny is a step towards the right direction,” De Guia said in a statement.
“CHR, even from the start, has repeatedly urged the government to be transparent and open in cooperating in the investigations of the said cases involving alleged extrajudicial killing related to the government’s drug campaign. We hope that 61 cases is just a beginning and we look forward to more cases being investigated,” she added.
On Tuesday, it was reported that newly installed PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar has allowed the DOJ to check the records of 61 police operations centering on the controversial drug war.
According to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, this move from Eleazar makes their job less difficult as the current PNP chief’s predecessors have not allowed even the DOJ to peek into the documents.
DOJ heads the task force assigned to review drug war deaths as critics have continuously claimed the prevalence of state-sponsored and extrajudicial killings (EJK). The task force is actually one of the assurances given by the country before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), amid strong calls for a thorough investigation of the human rights issue in the Philippines.
READ: DOJ chief tells UN rights body new panel to probe 5,000 deaths in police anti-drug operations
Earlier, Eleazar gave the assurance that the PNP would provide DOJ other documents — particularly about the 7,000 drug suspects slain in the drug war — should they ask for it.
The PNP’s involvement in the investigations, CHR said, is very important to the country’s human rights status.
“We underscore the importance of the PNP in maintaining a cooperative stance. Clearly, our police force has the mandate to investigate and pursue cases violating the people’s right to life among others. And, in the larger view, the government is charged with the obligation to uphold and protect the rights of everyone,” De Guia explained.
“As the conscience of the government and the country’s independent national human rights institution, CHR also looks forward to more meaningful and constructive engagements with the government in pursuit of truth and justice for every case of human rights violation,” she added.
President Rodrigo Duterte’s war against illegal drugs has been a major point of criticism thrown against his administration, as critics both from the country and abroad assert that the police and other law enforcement agencies have disregarded human rights in conducting such operations.
On the side of the government, PNP and other administration officials have noted that all police operations were legitimate and adhered to operational procedures.
In one instance last October 2020, Duterte claimed that he had ordered a “discreet probe” of the EJKs and the vigilante-style killings, which found out that the killings were done by warring drug syndicates who pin the blame on authorities.
READ: Why blame me for drug pushers’ death? Going into drug trade is a suicide, Duterte says
As of now, it is only in one drug war case that police officers were found guilty of killing innocent people — that of minor Kian delos Santos, whom the courts said was summarily executed despite him not being the real target of the operation.