What is the basis of your accusations?
This was the question raised by newly-installed Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Dir. Gen. Oscar D. Albayalde to the European Parliament, who had accused the police of committing extra-judicial killings under the banner of the government’s anti-illegal drug campaign.
Albayalde on Friday said the European Parliament should show the basis of their accusation that 12,000 have died under the drug crackdown, calling the figure bloated and too high.
“Hindi nga natin alam yung basis ng accusations, I think they have to give us a copy saan nila nakuha yung 12,000 na yon. Kung isa-isahin nila, kung sino-sino yung mga sinasabi nilang 12,000 victims na yan,” Albayalde said in a press briefing at Camp Crame.
(We do not know the basis of the accusations, I think they have to give us a copy where did they get those 12,000. They should list it one-by-one, who those 12,000 victims are.)
Members of the European Parliament (MEP) on Thursday called on the Philippine government to stop extrajudicial killings in the pretext of a “war on drugs” and expressed concern that the police are “falsifying evidence to justify extrajudicial killings.”
READ: EU urges PH to stop killings
Albayalde said the PNP has been transparent since the crackdown was launched, noting that the police have religiously been attending Senate probes on the issue.
“You see, we’ve been so transparent ever since. We’ve attended Senate hearings on this, actually yung mga hinihingi nilang data yung hinihingi nilang spot reports (the data they’re asking for, the spot reports they’re asking for), we have already furnished copies during the Senate hearing since two years back so how can they accuse us of covering up these reports?” he said.
The police chief said that not even the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) can prove that there were extrajudicial killings committed in the crackdown, which has been criticized by many international bodies, including the European Union and the United Nations.
“No less than Commission on Human Rights na wala pa silang mapatunayan na there is EJK na nangyari magmula nung nagsimula nang umupo yung ating Pangulo o magmula nung nag-start tayo dito sa war on drugs natin,” he said.
Albayalde, who assumed his position on Thursday, vowed that he would continue the anti-illegal drug campaign started by his predecessor, retired police chief Ronald Dela Rosa.
The PNP has said that nearly 4,000 drug personalities have been killed in the nearly two-year intensified campaign against illegal drugs. It says most of the fatalities were killed while resisting arrests during police operations.
The anti-drug campaign is the subject of a petition before the Supreme Court, several investigations by the Commission on Human Rights and the PNP’s Internal Affairs Service, and a preliminary examination by the International Criminal Court. /muf