PNP reviews Duterte antidrug war killings

PNP chief Rommel Francisco Marbil —PNP FB page

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil has ordered a review of the police force’s anti-illegal drugs campaign during the Duterte administration following allegations made by Police Lt. Col. Jovie Espenido over the purported existence of a “quota” and “reward” system implemented back then.

“We take these allegations with the utmost gravity,” Marbil said in a statement on Sunday. A review panel was formed to assess and evaluate the anti-illegal drugs campaign called Oplan Double Barrel.

The panel is composed of the Office of the Deputy Chief PNP for Operations, PNP Quad Staff, the Internal Affairs Service and the Human Rights Office.

READ: Espenido told: Pogo money used to reward anti-drug units

Its mandate will include “a detailed scrutiny and examination of all facets of the antidrug campaign, particularly those related to human rights, operational protocols and accountability mechanisms that were previously in place.”

Marbil said, “Our objective is to address any concerns, ensuring that the PNP’s antidrug operations are conducted in a manner that upholds the rule of law and respects human dignity.”

He stressed the findings will contribute to the PNP’s future strategies in the fight against illegal drugs, with a focus on transparency, accountability and the protection of human rights.

“We are committed to a drug-free Philippines, but it must be achieved through methods that are just and humane,” Marbil said.

‘Biggest crime group’

Espenido, the drug war’s former poster boy, said during the hearing last week also described the PNP as the “biggest crime group in the country.”

He also alleged that Senators Christopher Go and Ronald dela Rosa, who have been the closest associates of former President Duterte, were the ones who ordered police officers to use “all means necessary” to eliminate drug suspects—including killing them—and rewarding them for it.

The PNP expressed “deep concern” over Espenido’s statements.

“It [cast] doubt over the integrity and dedication of countless men and women in uniform. The officer talked about the whole organization and not just one police officer,” PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said in a news briefing last week.

“This should serve as a challenge to the PNP to do our jobs better and to show our countrymen that we are serious in cleansing our ranks,” she said. As of Oct. 31, 2021, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said the number of drug suspects who were killed has reached 6,215. The Human Rights Watch said more than 12,000 Filipinos, mostly urban poor, died in the antidrug war.

Meanwhile, a veteran lawmaker on Sunday urged former president Rodrigo Duterte as well as Dela Rosa and Go to attend the House of Representatives’ quad committee inquiry and formally debunk notions that the Philippines was run as a “narco-State” during the previous administration.

House committee on public order and safety chairperson Dan Fernandez made a similar call for the three prominent figures to use the quad committee probe as the proper forum to address serious allegations made against them by Espenido and two persons deprived of liberty while Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers threatened to have a retired police official arrested if she snubs the super panel’s summons in the next hearing set on Tuesday (Sept. 3).

The House quad committee is made up of the committees on dangerous drugs, on public order and safety, on public accounts and on human rights and was formed to look into the likely link of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators with extrajudicial killings in Duterte’s war on drugs as well as with syndicated crime operations and human rights violations. —with a report from Jeannette I. Andrade