SC summons Bato, other key players in gov’t’s war on drugs

Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa

The Supreme Court ordered Solicitor General Jose Calida to bring the key figures in the government’s war on drugs led by Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and Interior officer-in-charge Catalino Cuy.

Also required to appear on Nov. 28 in next week’s oral argument include Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Chief Aaron Aquino, Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) officer-in-charge Jose Marlowe Pedregosa, National Police Commission (Napolcom) Chief Atty. Rogelio Casurao and PNP’s Internal Affairs Service (IAS) Inspector General Alfegard Triambulo.

On Nov. 28, it will be the government’s turn to answer questions from the Supreme Court Justices regarding Command Memorandum Circular (CMC) 16-2016 that gave life to the government’s war on drugs and Department of the Interior and Local Government Memorandum Circular 2017-112 that created a system of anonymous reporting of suspected criminals.

Petitioners composed of human rights advocates, relative and victims of the war on drugs urged the high court to stop the campaign, which they claimed had violated the fundamental rights of every citizen.

Atty. Joel Butuyan, counsel of the petitioners, said the Oplan Double Barrel violated the people’s rights to life, liberty and security. In San Andres Bukid in Manila alone, he said 35 drug-related incidents have been recorded since July 2016.

On the other hand, Atty. Jose Manuel Diokno of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) said that while the CMC reminds police officers to observe the public’s constitutional rights, it is merely “lip service” because the policemen on the ground have a different interpretation based on the pronouncements of the PNP chief.