Senate to probe MPD’s ‘secret cell’

MANILA, Philippines -  The Senate is set to conduct an investigation into the “hidden cell” at the Manila Police District (MPD) station in Tondo where more than a dozen detainees were found last week.

Lawmakers said the discovery of the secret cell was another black mark in the Duterte administration’s human rights record.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and Sen. Risa Hontiveros renewed their call for an end to police excesses and impunity in the war on drugs.

They urged authorities to investigate and prosecute the police officers behind the hidden cell.

“I condemn this illegal and inhumane action committed by some of our policemen,” Drilon said.

 A team from the Commission on Human Rights discovered at least 12 men and women detained in a cell hidden behind a shelf at the MPD Station 1 headed by Superintendent Robert Domingo.

Domingo has been relieved from his post.

He is being investigated by the Philippine National Police (PNP) Internal Affairs Service for allegedly abusing drug suspects aside from holding them in a constricted detention cell.

Drilon and Hontiveros said the Constitution prohibits secret detention places, solitary, incommunicado and other similar forms of detention.

They said the MPD’s secret cell violates the provisions of the Anti-Torture Act, Revised Penal Code and four international conventions to which the Philippines is a signatory.

Hontiveros said the probe aims to find out if there are other secret jails in police stations.

The senators chided PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa for defending the MPD cops.