Philippine National Police chief Dir. Gen. Oscar Albayalde on Saturday said the infamous hit squad of the New People’s Army, the Special Partisan Unit (SPARU), no longer exists.
The alleged presence of SPARU assassins prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to declare that he will form a death squad to counter that of the communist rebels.
“Right now, we have not monitored (any SPARU presence). There have been instances in the past years and killings recorded, about 136. But we have monitored those and indeed, the SPARU has long ceased to exist,” Albayalde said in an interview with dzBB.
On Tuesday, Duterte said he wanted to form a “Duterte Death Squad” to counter SPARU members.
“I will create my own SPARU— Duterte Death Squad against the SPARU. I will match their talent also for assassinating people. They will have firearms for sure. That’s my plan,” the President said.
“They will do nothing but look for idlers who are prospective New People’s Army members and take them out,” Duterte added.
Albayalde said the President may have his own sources as to the presence of the hit squad of the communist rebels.
The PNP chief, however, clarified that the Palace has yet to make an official order on the proposed formation of the Duterte Death Squad.
“We are talking with the Armed Forces of the Philippines in anticipation of the order. We need to discuss the composition of such a a group—whether it will be from the military or the PNP,” Albayalde said.
Duterte’s proposal was immediately shot down by his own political ally, Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, president of the President’s ruling party, PDP-Laban.
“That cannot be done. I’m sure the President will not create such [a] squad,” Pimentel said.
Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison said Duterte’s proposal was just to cover up his administration’s widespread use of summary executions.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said they will thoroughly study the proposal even as he admitted that the plan could lead to cases of abuse.
“We will study it very closely. Who will compose it, who will supervise it, who will be the targets, who will be accountable? Because there is great danger of abuse or mistakes in these undercover operations,” Lorenzana said.