PNP backs DOJ task force probing drug war killings

Philippine National Police headquarters at Camp Crame

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) said it welcomed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) task force investigating the killing of drug suspects.

On Wednesday, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla ordered the creation of a task force to investigate alleged extrajudicial killings during President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

READ: DOJ chief creates task force to probe alleged EJKs during drug war

In a press briefing at Camp Crame on Thursday, Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo, PNP spokesperson, said, “We have always been supportive of the efforts of the DOJ to conduct an investigation, while the PNP is conducting its own investigation.”

Fajardo reiterated the police force’s cooperation, citing its joint probe with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) into the killing of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office board secretary Wesley Barayuga.

Barayuga was shot dead by an unidentified motorcycle-riding assailant on July 30, 2020. The case still remains unsolved.

That was until the testimony of Lt. Col. Santi Mendoza of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group during last September’s hearing at the House of Representatives’ quad committee looking into Duterte’s brutal anti-drug campaign.

Mendoza alleged that then PCSO general manager Royina Garma and National Police Commission commissioner Edilberto Leonardo ordered him to kill Barayuga.

PNP reopened the case last September 29, then the NBI followed suit on October 3, then Fajardo announced the two agencies would work together to investigate the killing on October 17.

READ: PNP, NBI to conduct joint probe into PCSO exec slay

On Thursday, Fajardo stressed, “This is an indication that the PNP will support and closely coordinate with the NBI and DOJ in their efforts to come up with a credible investigation with respect to the sensational cases mentioned during congressional hearings.”

When it comes to the police force’s own investigations, Fajardo said the PNP would look at all unresolved cases.

The spokesperson recalled that Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla previously declared there would be “no sacred cows” in the investigations of police officers involved in drug war killings.

READ: Remulla: No special treatment for cops involved in drug war killings

PNP is an agency attached to the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

“This is a big challenge since we’re talking about thousands of deaths, but we believe that if we have an objective we want to achieve, no matter how long it will take, we will work for it,” Fajardo said in a mix of Filipino and English.

The Human Rights Watch estimates that 12,000 people were killed in the war on drugs, with at least 2,555 of those cases attributable to the PNP.

Fajardo said, “We would like to take this opportunity for those individuals who may have information with respect to these unsolved cases: pagtiwalaan niyo ang inyong pambansang pulisya (Trust your national police).”

“We will all help each other. The directive from the PNP leadership is clear, that we are willing to reopen these cases, not just for the closure of the families, but truly to give justice to the victims,” she added.