Many law enforcement agents involved in the government’s anti-drug operations failed to follow standard protocols, including proper coordination with other agencies and processing of the crime scene.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra revealed this Wednesday after it was discovered by the Department of Justice-led Inter-Agency Review Panel.
In his speech before the 7th meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Guevarra said a contingent from the DOJ had examined available records in certain key areas and cities where most of these deaths during illegal drug operations occurred.
Guevarra stressed that initial and preliminary findings by the review panel of some 5,655 “nanlaban” cases confirm that in many of these cases, law enforcement agents asserted that the subject of the anti-drug operations resisted arrest or attempted to draw a weapon and fight back.
“Yet no full examination of the weapon recovered was conducted. No verification of its ownership was undertaken. No request for ballistic examination or paraffin test was pursued until its completion,” the DOJ chief lamented.
“It was also noted that among others, in more than half of the records reviewed, the law enforcement agents involved failed to follow standard protocols pertaining to coordination with other agencies and the processing of the crime scene,” he said.
Guevarra assured the UNHRC member-states that appropriate government agencies had already been addressing the findings of the review panel and that several policemen have been recommended for criminal prosecution and administrative procedures.
“It is now the immediate task of the review panel to ensure that these recommendations have been acted upon and carried out by the proper disciplinarian authorities and that measures are adopted to minimize loss of lives during legitimate law enforcement operations against illegal drugs,” Guevarra stressed.
Guevarra’s statement only shows that the justice system in the Philippines is working, according to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.
At a press briefing Thursday, Roque said Guevarra’s remark has shown that the government is serious in going after law enforcers who need to be held liable over their erroneous actions.
“The previous statement of our Secretary of Justice proves that we are serious in investigating and prosecuting them, since we are facing the truth that it’s possible some of our law enforcers need to answer to the law themselves,” he said.
Roque maintained that other institutions should not meddle with how the justice system in the Philippines works.
However, the group Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday urged the DOJ to keep its promises and follow its recommendations on the anti-drug war.
“At this juncture, the DOJ should make good on its pledges contained in this statement and ensure that their recommendations are fully implemented,” HRW deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said in a statement.
Robertson said transparency is essential, so all the records of the Philippines police’s internal investigations to these killings should immediately be made public, along with clear descriptions of any punitive measures imposed on the officers involved.
“Member states of the HRC should monitor this situation closely to make sure these promises do not turn out to just be more window-dressing,” he said.
“No one should forget that the Philippines government excels at telling the international community what it wants to hear in international meetings like this one, only to forget the pledges and the promised follow-up as soon as their officials arrive back home,” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign became controversial after its operations led to more than 6,000 dead. Most of them, according to police authorities, were due to suspects drawing a weapon and firing back at the lawmen.
Guevarra’s statement was the first time a top official of the Duterte administration admitted to the large-scale lapses in the government’s anti-drug campaign.
Nonetheless, Guevarra assured the UN human rights body that the Philippine system is working, even as he rejected efforts by any entity to assume jurisdiction over the so-called “nanlaban” cases.
“The Philippines strongly emphasizes its legal and judicial system (and) its domestic accountability mechanisms are functioning as they should. We reject any attempt by any external entity to assume jurisdiction over internal matters which are being addressed more than adequately by our national institutions and authorities,” he declared.
Guevarra was apparently referring to the pending investigation by the International Criminal Court of human rights violations allegedly being committed in the Philippines under the Duterte administration.
The ICC Office of the Prosecutor released a report last December, saying there is “reasonable basis” to believe that crimes against humanity took place in the country from July 1, 2016 when President Duterte took office until March 16, 2019, when the Philippines’ withdrawal from the ICC took effect.
The ICC prosecutor also vowed to finish its preliminary examination on the human rights situation in the Philippines in mid-2021.
The drug war review is a commitment by the Philippines to the UNHRC, which was seen by human rights organizations as the government’s way of evading a full-blown independent international probe into the drug war in the country that has killed more than 6,000 lives based on government figures.
Last month, Guevarra said the review panel has completed its first partial report and has submitted it to the President but has not been made public yet.
Asked if the DOJ will soon release a copy of the partial report, Guevarra said he would need to consult the other members of the panel if they intend “to expand the geographical coverage of the review so that we may see the overall picture.”
According to the secretary, the partial report covered police operations in Bulacan, including San Jose del Monte City; Pampanga, including Angeles City; Cavite, including Bacoor City; and parts of the National Capital Region, which areas have the “highest number of incidents.”
Guevarra stressed the DOJ-led review panel has urged the Philippine National Police to act against the erring law enforcers based on the recommendation of its Internal Affairs Service.
“Otherwise, any member agency of the review panel, other than the DOJ, may file the appropriate complaint before the DOJ,” he said.
“We also intend to reach out to the families of the victims so that they themselves could act as the complaints,” Guevarra added.
Malacanang has repeatedly denied that the killings have Duterte’s blessing.