Robredo: PNP has “obligation” to prove it’s not state policy to kill drug suspects

Vice President Leni Robredo on Wednesday said it was the “obligation” of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to prove to the people that it did not sanction the killings of drug suspects, mostly poor, and lately, minors.

“Tingin ko obligasyon ng kapulisan na ipakita sa tao na hindi nila sanctioned iyong ganitong mga patayan,” Robredo told reporters on the sidelines of her visit to her Angat Buhay-Metro Laylayan project in Maricaban in Pasay City. “Kasi kahit anong sabi, kung iba iyong nakikita, siyempre iyong tanong parating nandoon.”

(“I think it’s the obligation of the police to show the people that they do not sanction these killings. Because whatever is said, if this is contrary to what we see, the question will always be there.”)

Duterte and Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, PNP chief, on Tuesday denied that the spate of drug killings were ordered by the administration in its campaign against illegal drugs.

But Robredo said that as long as the people’s “previous questions have not been answered, the same questions will persist.”

“What are these questions?” she said. “First, why have thousands died in the hands of the police, when they should be the ones to assure our security? Second, accusations are rife that [the killings] are happening because there is an incentive if the drug suspects are dead. I think this question should be answered because that is at the back of the minds of our countrymen, is this true or not? Third, there are many unsolved cases. Until they are solved, people couldn’t help but ask if this was done by the police or not.”

In March, Robredo brought the concern over the drug killings before the 60th annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs through a video message. That time, the death toll was at an estimated 7,000.

Robredo was pilloried by Duterte’s allies and supporters, claiming that she brought shame to the country by making a false claim on the drug killings.

However, the killings have become more and more controversial as the drug war escalated, highlighting the human rights violations that resulted from the brutal campaign.

The latest drug killings included those of three teenagers – 17-year-old Kian de los Santos, 19-year-old Carl Arnaiz, and 14-year-old Reynaldo de Guzman, whose body was discovered only on Wednesday morning.

The Senate is investigating the police officers involved in the killings, with Sen. Risa Hontiveros of the opposition saying there was a policy to kill drug suspects in Duterte’s war on drugs. /atm