Duterte slams report: Criminals have no humanity

MANILA, Philippines - Criminals have no humanity so killing them is not a crime, President Duterte said yesterday as he railed against the report of a rights watchdog that the country faces a “human rights calamity.”

Malacañang also branded as “thoughtless and irresponsible” the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on the Philippines, which said Duterte could be held liable for extrajudicial killings.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said President Duterte’s war on drugs is not a war against humanity but one meant “to protect humanity from a modern-day evil.”

“To say otherwise is to undermine society’s legitimate desire to be free from fear and to pander to the interests of the criminals,” Abella said in a statement. 

In Davao City, President Duterte belittled the HRW report. “When you kill criminals that is not a crime against humanity. The criminals have no humanity God damn it,” the president told reporters during the groundbreaking of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway.

Abella disputed HRW’s claims by citing figures supposedly showing the extent of the drug menace in the country.

“Is it a human rights calamity when more than 1.1 million drug pushers and addicts have voluntarily submitted themselves to authorities? Is it a human rights calamity when rehabilitation centers are being constructed to treat drug dependents?” he said.

“Is it a human rights calamity when the sheer scope and magnitude of an emerging narco state have been exposed? “

Chief presidential legal adviser Salvador Panelo said the contents of the HRW report are “incredible.”

“The title of the report should have been ‘Licensed to Lie.’ It was full of lies,” Panelo said, referring to the report’s title “Licensed to Kill.”

“You know the accusations against the President have been there since he was mayor. They have been investigating the same group. They’ve been saying that but have not filed any charges against the President when he was still mayor,” he added.

Panelo said the families of the victims interviewed by HRW investigators were not expected to admit that their loved ones were guilty of wrongdoing. He maintained that the extrajudicial killings were perpetrated by criminal groups to silence potential informants.

“The extrajudicial killings are the result of surrenderees pointing to their comrades in the drug trade. And these co-conspirators in the drug trade involved in illegal industry will silence them because they will not allow themselves to be jailed or to be arrested; hence, they will have to silence them,” Panelo said. 

“Those who surrendered will not allow themselves to be killed so they will fight back, that’s why there are so many extrajudicial killings. The fact remains that many of our policeman and soldiers have also been killed. If the policemen were behind extrajudicial killings, they should not have suffered casualties,” he added.

With regard to HRW’s claim that Duterte is criminally liable for the killings, Abella pointed out that Duterte enjoys immunity from suit.

“The President is constitutionally immune from suit. But he has always been forthcoming with his fellow Filipinos to encourage constructive criticism, nay dissent, in the spirit of democracy and nation-building,” he said.

In its report, the HRW also said many law enforcers planted evidence on drug offenders killed. “They plant guns, spent ammunition and drug packets on their victims’ bodies to implicate them in drug activities. Masked gunmen taking part in killings appeared to be working closely with the police, casting doubt on government claims that the majority of killings have been committed by vigilantes or rival drug gangs,” the HRW said in a statement.

HRW has documented 24 cases of shooting incidents since October last year that resulted in the deaths of 32 drug suspects.

Do your homework

Abella also advised interest groups to “do their homework more diligently before attempting to engage in propaganda” as he scoffed at HRW’s asking foreign governments to suspend their assistance to the Philippines because of the drug-related deaths.

“President Duterte has won on a platform for genuine change and this will remain as his only agenda to serve the interest of the people,” Abella said.

Malacañang also dismissed as hearsay HRW’s claim that the policemen had planted evidence to justify their actions against drug suspects.

“Planting ‘evidence’ to justify police action is an allegation, nothing more. It must be substantiated by solid evidence, eyewitness account and sworn statement or affidavit. Recovered firearms from drug suspects are kept in custody and subsequently presented before legal proceedings,” the President’s spokesman said.

“All these accusations of circumventing police procedures should be proven in a competent court and if found meritorious should result in appropriate sanctions against the perpetrators. Failing these, such claims are mere hearsay.” 

The Philippine National Police (PNP), for its part, dared the HRW to show solid evidence or stop making generalizations. 

“We need proof and if there is a complaint, we will act on it,” PNP spokesman Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos told a news briefing.

He said the Counter-Intelligence Task Force and Internal Affairs Service have been instructed to investigate possible police abuses in the conduct of the war on drugs. Carlos said the PNP is open to a probe by other investigating bodies. – Alexis Romero, Emmanuel Tupas, Eva Visperas