Panelo: Gov’t not condoning abusive cops

Presidential legal adviser Salvador Panelo.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

The Duterte administration is serious in filing charges against “abusive police authorities” amid its intensified crackdown on illegal drugs, a Palace official said on Friday.

“If there is probable cause, this government will be filing cases of murder against these abusive police authorities,” chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo said in an ambush interview.

Panelo cited the filing of murder charges against two Pasay City policemen over the death of JP Bertes and his father, who were allegedly into illegal drugs.

“It only shows this government is not tolerating abuses of policemen in the course of  (implementing the) arrest,” he said.

READ: Cops linked to drugs, slays

Amid criticisms from human rights group and  United Nations (UN) officials, Panelo said that the rise in the killings of alleged drug suspects was not state-sanctioned.

“Ang nakikita natin ngayon ay patayan between syndicates. Iyan ang lagi nating i-emphasize at nakakalimutan ng lahat na iyong mga nasa sindikato, unang-una nagkaka-onsehan kaya nagkakapatayan,” he said.

(What we are seeing now are the killings between syndicates. That’s what we have been emphasizing because everyone keeps on forgetting that those in syndicates are the first ones to turn on each other and kill each other.)

The Palace official said the lack of families filing formal complaints justifies his claim.

“The fact na walang nagrereklamong pamilya sila-sila iyon, alam nila. Pati pamilya nila alam na involved ang kamag-anak nila,” he said.

(The fact that none of the families have been complaining shows that they themselves know. They are aware that their relatives are involved (in the drug trade).)

READ: Bato says criminals, not cops, should be dead

He encouraged victims of abuses by authorities to report them to the nearest police station.

“In fact, we are encouraging everybody to tell us who is abusive, if they have evidence against any police station and inform us so we can make appropriate charges against those offenders,” he said.

He said the victims of police abuse should not be afraid to complain because the government would protect them.

“Dapat hindi na natatakot kasi ang mga pulis hindi lang homicide ang kinakasuhan, murder pa. Ibig sabihin, doon pa lang makikita mo na bibigyan sila ng proteksyon ng pamahalaan,” he said.

(They should not be afraid because they could see that some cops are being charged not just with homicide but with murder too. It’s a testament that the families of the fatalities of drug war are protected by the government.) IDL/rga