Independent panel to probe drug war killings sought

Marcelino Libanan —CONGRESS.GOV.PH

MANILA, Philippines – A leader of the House of Representatives on Friday called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to establish an independent fact-finding commission to investigate extrajudicial killings tied to the previous administration’s war on drugs.

House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan said the proposed commission should operate independently of the executive and legislative branches.

READ: Hontiveros: Senate drug war probe would ‘complement’ House investigation

“We urge the President to form a panel – similar to the Agrava Fact-Finding Board – that will probe the summary killings and identify all individuals who may be held criminally liable,” Libanan said in a statement.

He said the independent commission should also consist of individuals with a reputation for fairness and impartiality.

“It should consist of distinguished individuals who are highly regarded for their fairness and impartiality, and who are not politically aligned,” he said.

Libanan was referring to the Agrava Fact-Finding Board as a model, which was formed to investigate the 1983 assassination of former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. at the Manila International Airport.

The board was chaired by the country’s first woman judge, retired appellate court Justice Corazon Agrava, alongside lawyer Luciano Salazar, businessman Dante Santos, educator Amado Dizon, and labor leader Ernesto Herrera, who was later elected senator.

The board concluded that Aquino was killed by a military conspiracy led by then chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Gen. Fabian Ver.

It ultimately recommended the conviction of 16 soldiers for Aquino’s assassination, resulting in their sentencing to double life imprisonment.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin previously stated that the Marcos government “places the highest importance on the fair dispensation of justice and on the universal observance of rule of law” in ongoing investigations into drug-related extrajudicial killings.

The House Quad Committee has been probing the alleged extrajudicial killings that supposedly transpired during the Duterte administration’s drug war.

Former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Royina Garma previously testified that an organized reward system existed, with large sums of money being distributed to officers as part of the operations to kill drug suspects.