Media ‘wrongly attributing’ executions to police — Palace exec

In this picture taken on July 8, 2016, police officers investigate the body of an alleged drug dealer, his face covered with packing tape and a sign saying ‘I’m a pusher.” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar on Monday, Dec. 19, 2016, said such execution-style killings were not the work of policemen. Andanar blamed media for ‘wrongly attributing’ such killings to the police. AFP

Malacañang on Monday acknowledged the concern of nearly 80 percent of Filipinos who expressed fear that they might fall victim to extrajudicial killing amid President Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on illegal drugs.

At the same time, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar thanked the public for giving the government’s controversial drug war an “excellent” net satisfaction rating of +77 percent in the latest poll conducted by the Social Weather Stations.

“Rest assured that the Duterte administration respects the law and uphold (sic) the basic rights of our people, regardless of beliefs and political persuasions,” Andanar said in a statement.

READ: 8 of 10 Filipinos fear getting killed in drug war

“(W)e recognize our people’s concern as we assure them that the government’s anti-drug operations are not aimed at poor, innocent, hapless individuals,” he added.

The Palace official reiterated that the unsolved summary executions were not state-sanctioned as he blamed the media which, he said, “wrongly attributed” killings “perpetrated by common criminals… as part of police operations.”

“Murder is murder. What our authorities are conducting are legitimate police operations that require observance of operational protocols,” Andanar said.

He added: “(Policemen) who violate procedures are made to answer before the law. Suspected drug personalities who resist and fight back with arms have to be dealt with appropriately. The proper enforcement of our laws requires the use of reasonable force merited by the attendant circumstances.” CBB/rga