Duterte vows to investigate Manila secret cell

President Rodrigo Duterte answers questions from the media at the Malacañang grounds. NESTOR CORRALES/INQUIRER.net

President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday vowed to investigate the secret detention in a police station in Tondo, Manila where arrested drug suspects were held.

“I will look into this after [the event] this afternoon. I will call [Philippine National Police Chief Gen. Ronald] Bato [Dela Rosa],” he told reporters in Malacañang minutes before the welcome ceremony for Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

READ: Duterte welcomes Indonesia’s Widodo at Malacañang

On Thursday night on the eve Duterte was set to debut as the host of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) Summit, lawyers from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) found a dozen men and women detained in a secret cell behind a shelf in a Manila police station.

READ: Drug suspects found in secret police cell

Supt. Roberto Domingo, chief of the Raxabago drug detention unit in Tondo, was ordered relieved Friday morning and was replaced by his deputy, Chief Inspector Gilbert Cruz. IDL/rga