HRW blasts reinstatement of Marcos, other cops in Espinosa slay

MANILA, Philippines — A human rights watchdog on Friday blasted the reinstatement of police officers accused of involvement in the killing of a former Leyte mayor, saying that such move demonstrated a “kids-gloves” treatment of the cops as it reiterated its call for a United Nations-led probe into mounting killings in relation to the government’s drug war.

Human Rights Watch, a New York-based watchdog, said the “kid-gloves” handling of the officers was emblematic of the impunity given to those accused of killing more than 7,000 people, mostly from urban poor communities, in the government’s conduct of its war on drugs.

The government, however, contradicted this and released data last May showing a lower figure of nearly 4,600 drug-related killings. It added that many of the deaths cited by government critics were classified as still under investigation although up to now no update has been made on their status.

HRW has been critical of the President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign against narcotics and in March released a report accusing the Philippine leader of inciting the killings of Filipinos accused of involvement in illegal drugs.

The group recently described Duterte’s first year in offices as a “human rights calamity” for the mounting drug war killings and the intimidation of his government’s critics. 

On Wednesday, Duterte told the personnel of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology that he had already ordered the return to service of Superintendent Marvin Marcos and his 18 men who were found to have been involved in the killing of former Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa and his cell mate Raul Yap last year by the Senate and National Bureau of Investigation.

The president said that Marcos should be reactivated as he was not part of the raiding team and was far from the scene of the operations.

This generated a slew of strong reactions especially from senators who investigated the deaths last year.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, head of the one of the two Senate committees that probed into the incident, could not hide his disgust and spewed an invective to show his frustration with the president’s move.

“In sum, there is a phrase to describe this whole damn thing: Put*ng I*a!” Lacson said.

The return to service of the police personnel followed the downgrade of cases of these cops from murder to homicide.

HRW said that the return to service of the cops was not surprising considering that Duterte vowed in the past that he would even pardon, reinstate and promote them.

“They can call me and say they have been convicted, and I’ll tell the judge to pardon them all,” Duterte was quoted by HRW as saying.

He repeated this promise on Wednesday when he again offered a vigorous defense of security officials involved in the killings. He said that they should not be prosecuted for following his orders.

“Sabi ko, ‘Wala akong pakialam dyan. File na ninyo lahat ng gusto ninyong file.’ Pero sabi ko and in front of Cabinet, ‘I will never allow a military man, a government man or a policeman na makukulong for doing his duty and obeying my order,” the president said, to the applause of most of the members of the audience.

The group debunked the usual police refrain that suspects killed either resisted arrest or were targeted by “unknown gunmen.”

These drug war deaths demand accountability through an investigation of a UN-led panel, the group said.

“Until that occurs, police and their agents implicated in those killings will continue to get away with murder,” the watchdog said.

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Based on HRW research, the deaths of suspected drug users and dealers, which Duterte had used to brand his campaign a success, were due to unlawful police conduct which was designed to lend legality to extrajudicial killings which “may amount to crimes against humanity.”

HRW said that the president’s past statement encouraging the killing of drug suspects could be considered “criminal incitement,” warning him and senior government figures that they could be charged with crimes against humanity.