DOJ chief creates task force to probe alleged EJKs during drug war

FILE PHOTO: Former President Rodrigo Duterte (left), Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla (center), and Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa (right). PHOTOS FROM SENATE PRIB/FACEBOOK PAGES

MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla created a task force that would investigate the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) allegedly committed during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Wednesday.

According to the DOJ, Remulla created the task force through Department Order (DO) 778 dated Nov. 4.

READ: Remulla: No one exempt from EJK probe, not even ex-President Duterte

Under the DO, the task force shall probe, conduct case build-up, and file complaints against perpetrators and those involved in the EJKs.

The task force was also directed to coordinate and help the House of Representatives quad committee and the Senate blue ribbon committee in their investigations into the anti-illegal drug campaign.

“Spare no one, hold accountable every personality who had a hand in the senseless killing perpetrated by abusive persons in authority during the past admin’s anti-illegal drug campaign,” Remulla said.

The task force will be chaired by a senior assistant state prosecutor and co-chaired by a regional prosecutor with nine members from the National Prosecution Service (NPS). A team from the National Bureau of Investigation was also ordered to assist the task force.

“The task force shall be obliged to submit a report to the Secretary of Justice not later than 60 days from the issuance of DO 778,” the DOJ said.

In a chance interview on Wednesday, newly appointed Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon said the NPS prosecutors would help law enforcement agencies in investigating the EJK cases.

“Our prosecutors are there to give the law enforcement agencies the necessary backup in terms of legal knowledge or strategies and probably guiding them into what kind of evidence is needed in any particular case created to file,” he added.

Government records show that at least 6,200 drug suspects died in legitimate anti-drug operations during Duterte’s term.

Human rights groups, however, have claimed that the actual number of individuals slain during the drug war can be between 12,000 to 30,000.

READ: Drug war cases ‘being reopened’ after Garma’s exposé – Remulla