The Philippine National Police has prodded the Supreme Court to dismiss the petitions of human rights groups Free Legal Assistance Group and Center for International Law against the Duterte administration’s war on illegal drugs.
In a memorandum, the PNP, through the Office of the Solicitor General, sought the dismissal of the petitions filed in October last year by alleged victims of the drug war represented by FLAG and CenterLaw, warning that it would unduly hamper government’s efforts to stop the proliferation of illegal drugs.
“By granting the petitions against the war on drugs, a dangerous precedent is created where amparo proceedings will be used as a tool by drug personalities in order to ‘fish’ for evidence, in the guise of protecting their human rights,” Solicitor General Jose Calida argued.
“This would open the floodgates to any person hurling groundless accusations against our police officers which would, in turn, result in widespread disillusionment and demoralization, preventing them from performing their functions with zeal and dedication,” Calida said.
The chief state lawyer also explained that the prayers sought by petitioners—if granted by the SC—would prevent the PNP from performing its official functions and that drugs would once again spread over our communities.
“Worse, allowing the creation of numerous ‘police free zones’ will result in virtual anarchy culminating in widespread criminality, spreading like a malady in our community which would only tear apart communities, the bedrock of our nation’s family and youth,” he said.
The solicitor general dismissed the petitions as “indiscriminate filing of unsubstantiated amparo petitions” and “misuse and abuse of amparo [that] will ultimately congest court dockets and delay the processing of cases in the courts of justice, which in the end, defeats the summary nature of an amparo proceeding.”
In his comment filed last November, Calida already sought the dismissal of the petitions which he said were “disingenuous moves to destabilize the Duterte administration and sow anarchy.”
According to him, the petitions seeking to stop the implementation of Philippine National Police Command Memorandum Circular No. 16-2016 or “Oplan Double Barrel” and Department of the Interior and Local Government’s Memorandum Circular 2017-112 or the “Masa Masid” project, if granted, could be detrimental to the government and even pose grave threats to the nation.
The Solicitor General also invoked the power of the executive branch to implement its programs, warning that granting the petitions would be tantamount to an undue interference with the operations of the co-equal branch.
Calida said the assailed orders are consistent with the Constitution and both domestic and international laws, claiming that Project Tokhang has been successful in achieving its purpose and has had the overwhelming approval of the public.
With the submission of the memoranda by both OSG and petitioners, the SC has submitted the case for resolution after earlier hearing both sides in oral arguments last November and December.
FLAG filed the petition for two victims of extrajudicial killings identified as Ryan Dave Almora and Rex Appari and a survivor identified as Jefferson Soriano in police anti-narcotics operations.
In the same petition, FLAG sought issuance of writ of Amparo and temporary protection order prohibiting police authorities from getting near the residents or work places of the families of petitioners.
Almora and Aparri were shot dead during a home invasion in relation to the campaign against drugs, while Soriano survived an alleged summary execution attempt.
CenterLaw, on the other hand, filed its writ of Amparo petition for families of 35 alleged drug suspects killed in anti-narcotics operations of police over the past year and other residents of San Andres Bukid district in Manila.
The PNP has recorded over 6,000 deaths under investigation since June 2016, while human rights group put the death toll under the administration’s drug war at 13,000.
