Director General Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa, PNP chief, holds a news conference in Camp Crame on Monday, March 6, 2017. Beside him is Senior Supt. Graciano Mijares, who will lead the newly-formed Drug Enforcement Group (DEG) that will take charge of the relaunched war on drugs. (Photo by JULLIANE LOVE DE JESUS/INQUIRER.net)
Human Rights Watch should “show solid evidence” that the police officers have indeed been doing extrajudicial killings in the name of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
“Magpakita sila ng ebidensya. Hindi ‘yung sige lang sila akusa,” a visibly irate Director General Ronald de la Rosa, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said. That was his answer when asked to comment on the issue during a news conference held Monday in Camp Crame.
(“They should show evidence. They shouldn’t just keep on accusing.”)
Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos, the PNP spokesman, made the same comment after the HRW report came out last week.
READ: PNP to HRW on ‘human rights calamity’ claim: Where’s proof?
De la Rosa lamented persistent criticisms from human rights groups on the drug killings, pointing out that there were also police officers dying in the drug war.
“Kawawa naman kami,” De la Rosa said. “Nagsusumikap kami na malinis itong aming bansa sa droga. Marami na akong pulis na napatay. Eh tapos ngayon akusahan kami ngayon.”
(“We look so pitiful. We’re doing our best to clean our country of drugs. So many of my police officer have died. Then we now get this accusation.”)
The international group, which is based in New York City, released a 124-page report titled “License to Kill,” gives details of extrajudicial killings allegedly committed by the police. It alleges that the police faked evidence, planting guns and drugs, to implicate their victims in drug activities.
In his earlier reaction, Carlos said HRW should not generalize and assume that the 24 cases of summary executions in the country reflect the entire operations of the PNP against drugs.
Carlos dared the HRW to show solid proof and file complaints against the police.
In reaction, Sen. Leila de Lima, who is detained in Camp Crame on drug charges, called on the PNP to “stop fooling the world” that the drug killings were not sanctioned by President Rodrigo Duterte.
READ: Stop fooling the world, Duterte told
In a handwritten note, De Lima said: “To the President’s and PNP spokespersons and other presidential defenders who deny that the daily drug killings are state-sponsored and instead demand for ‘solid proof,’ I say to you: STOP INSULTING OUR INTELLIGENCE, STOP FOOLING OUR PEOPLE AND THE REST OF THE WORLD.” /atm