THE Philippine National Police said on Friday there was “officially no case” of extrajudicial killing under the 15-month-old administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. Dionardo Carlos issued the statement to correct an announcement he had made hours earlier—that there had been only one case of extrajudicial killing since Duterte took his oath of office on June 30, 2016.
“The PNP protects every individual’s right to life. To allay or remove their fear of becoming victims of EJK, let it be known that under the present administration, there is only one case of extrajudicial killing or EJK for the period July 1, 2016, to Sept. 30, 2017,” Carlos said in his text message to reporters past 10 am on Friday.
In a related development:
• Malacañang warned the Church against giving sanctuary to rogue cops, saying this might affect the government’s efforts in fighting the illegal drug trade.
While the government welcomed the efforts of the Church to help these rogue cops to mend their ways, Malacanang said the Church should “exercise due diligence as there were drug protectors, kidnappers, kotong and ninja cops who want to destroy the ongoing campaign against illegal drugs.”
“Furthermore, we urge a certain objectivity to avoid being used by said aberrations,” he added.
Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, said earlier this week some law enforcers had approached the Church and expressed willingness to “expose all” that they know about “extrajudicial killings” in the country.
“They have expressed their desire to come out in the open about their participation in extrajudicial killings and summary executions. Their consciences are troubling them,” Villegas said in a statement published in the CBCP website.
Villegas said the whistleblowers, whom he did not name, recently met with him and other officials of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan to ask for “succor and protection.”
“Their consciences are troubling them,” he said in a statement.
He said the Church would look into the “sincerity of their motives and the veracity of their stories,” and would be willing to grant them and their families accommodation, shelter, and protection.
He also gave assurances they would not turn over the cops to the State.
“If their preference is to stay with us in the Church, they will not be turned over to the State under its own witness protection program,” Villegas said.
Following criticisms by the church on the government’s anti-drug campaign, Duterte sought help from the Church on how to reform alleged drug suspects, after sharing “state secrets” on the government’s anti-criminality drive.
Last Sept. 18, Duterte met with Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles, who got recently elected as President of CBCP, the episcopal conference of the Roman Catholic Church in the country.
It was not clear if Duterte gave Church officials his “narco list,” his supposed list of officials from the judiciary, police, and local governments allegedly involved in the drug trade.
The PNP spokesperson made the statement in response to the results of the Social Weather Stations survey which showed that 7 in 10 Filipinos feared they might become victims of extrajudicial killings.
Carlos initially said the only extrajudicial killing the PNP recognized was the case of slain journalist Larry Que in Catanduanes.
Catanduanes Gov. Joseph Cua, and Police Officer 1 Vincent Tacorda, the whistleblower cop who claimed he could no longer stomach illegal activities in their police force, had been implicated in Que’s case.
While Tacorda had recanted his statement, Carlos said at first that Que’s case was still considered as extrajudicial killing.
While the PNP does not recognize any cases of extrajudicial killing under the Duterte administration, the PNP counts at least 3,850 drug suspects killed in their anti-drug operations, and at least 2,290 killed for drug-related motives, mostly slain by unidentified assailants.
Some cops, particularly from Caloocan City, had also come under fire for the killings of teenagers Kian delos Santos and Carl Arnaiz.