De Lima seeks creation of anti-EJK body

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Leila de Lima pushed yesterday for the creation of an inter-agency council against extrajudicial killings (Anti-EJK Council) to help stop summary executions and ensure speedy investigation of such cases.

De Lima made the proposal in expressing her strong opposition to the Duterte administration’s plan to lift the suspension of police operations on the war on drugs, which she warned would result in a resurgence of extrajudicial and summary killings in the country.

In a statement issued from detention, De Lima said the government should heed incessant warnings from the local and global communities against “the blatant defects in the police anti-drug operations.”

“It’d be the height of arrogance if our government would resume its most murderous war on drugs without correcting its defects, without getting rid of corrupt policemen and without making them accountable for their crimes,” De Lima, who is facing drug charges filed by the Department of Justice, said.

De Lima denied the charges, saying she is a victim of political persecution, being a critic of the administration’s bloody war on drugs.

“Like many of you know, the illegal drug abuse and trafficking present a persistent problem not only for the Philippines but also for other countries. We are against drug trade, but we should not allow innocent people to be summarily killed,” she said.

President Duterte’s war on drugs has claimed the lives of over 7,500 people in the last eight months.

Duterte earlier said it is up to Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa to decide when to resume the government’s anti-drug operations following the alleged return of drug peddlers and users across the country.

Dela Rosa reportedly spoke with governors, mayors and village officials who purportedly were clamoring for the resumption of police operations against illegal drugs. He, however, did not identify the names of the government officials he spoke with. – With Edu Punay