New policemen prepare to take their oath of office at the Central Luzon police parade ground in Camp Olivas, City of San Fernando, Pampanga province. FILE PHOTO FROM CENTRAL LUZON PNP
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) leadership has assured the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) that police officers who commit human-rights violations in enforcing the law would not be spared, and would be held accountable.
In a statement from the PNP Public Information Office (PNP-PIO) on Friday, the police force however said that the CHR report on President Rodrigo Duterte’s war against illegal drugs would not a place a dent on the morale of the officers, noting that a lot of their personnel remain grounded on their true duty.
“While we respect the pronouncement of the CHR, we also laud the ongoing efforts of our PNP personnel who remain grounded on our purpose to maintain peace and order,” PNP said in a statement.
“Managot ang dapat managot pero hindi ito dahilan upang panghinaan kami ng loob dahil may bansa pa kaming kailangang pangalagaan,” it added.
(Those who should be held accountable will be held accountable, but this would not be a reason for us to waver because we have a country to save.)
PNP assured CHR though that they are aware of the complaints against officers who committed rights abuses during operations.
“The PNP is aware of the complaints filed against some police personnel who are allegedly involved in human rights violations during police operations. These cases are already taken into the legal spectrum,” PNP said.
“Layunin din ng PNP na makamit ang hustisya (It is the goal of the PNP to attain justice) because that’s what law enforcement is all about. The mandate is clear among our personnel — Serve and Protect the people,” it added.
PNP’s latest comments on the drug war came after CHR reported that the outgoing administration’s war against illegal drugs encouraged a culture impunity, adding that disproportionate force was used by the drug war implementers like the PNP.
According to CHR, perpetrators of alleged rights violators often used the ‘nanlaban’ narrative, where drug war suspects are accused of fighting it out against anti-narcotic operators.
READ: Duterte’s ‘drug war’ encouraged impunity, failed to protect rights – CHR report
CHR also downplayed claims that these observations were just a rehash of all the old accusations against the drug war, noting that the latest report was a continuation of the past documents on the anti-drug campaign.
READ: Latest report on Duterte admin’s drug war not a ‘rehash’, says CHR
The drug war has been one of the most criticized policies of the current administration, as opposition groups say that it has been very harsh and bloody. Numbers as of February 2022 showed that over 6,235 drug suspects have been killed in legitimate operations, after supposedly fighting it out against authorities.
However, there are activist groups who claim that the number is larger. These allegations have led to complaints against past and present PNP officials and President Duterte himself, before the International Criminal Court (ICC), for allegedly committing the crime against humanity of murder.
Last September 2021, the ICC pre-trial chamber authorized the start of the investigation on the drug war, acting upon the request of former prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. But in November 2021, ICC granted the Philippine government’s request to stop investigation on the drug war killings, with the latter claiming that the justice system in the country is fully functional.
READ: ICC pre-trial chamber authorizes start of probe into Duterte’s drug war