Senate majority signs resolution hitting police drug killings

MANILA, Philippines - Senators from the majority bloc signed last night a resolution condemning “the recent spate of abuses” by the police, including the killing of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos, and moved to conduct an investigation into the incident that sparked outrage nationwide.

Following a three-hour closed-door caucus in Makati, 12 senators, including Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, signed the still unnumbered resolution that is expected to be passed in plenary tomorrow.

The document said the Senate will look into the accountability of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the campaign against illegal drugs “that may have resulted in unnecessary and unjustified deaths and/or killings.”

Apart from Pimentel, among those who signed the resolution were Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, and Senators Joseph Victor Ejercito, Sonny Angara, Sherwin Gatchalian, Richard Gordon, Gregorio Honasan, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Grace Poe, Joel Villanueva, Cynthia Villar and Juan Miguel Zubiri.

Lacson earlie said the Senate investigation into the surge of drug-related police killings would try to find out whether the summary executions were state-sponsored.

Lacson, chairman of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs, issued the statement after over 80 people were killed in different areas of Metro Manila and Bulacan in the past five days reportedly as a consequence of the PNP’s “one-time, big time” anti-drug campaign.

“Why was there another (killing), what we may rightly or wrongly describe as a killing spree? Was there an order? Is there a pattern when the President warns (those involved in illegal drugs) and gives orders to the PNP?” Lacson said over dzBB.

While the Senate committee on justice last year found no evidence of state-sponsored extrajudicial killings, Lacson said the next legislative inquiry could review the panel’s report.

Lacson’s committee is likely to lead the investigation. Several lawmakers, including Senators Sonny Angara and Nancy Binay, pressed for a probe into the drug-related killings, including that of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos by policemen in Caloocan City last week.

Lacson said he heard that some police units were feeling the pressure to rack up “scores” in the anti-drug campaign or they might be sanctioned.

He said President Duterte’s repeated assurance that he will pardon police officers convicted of killing drug pushers may have also prompted some of the summary executions.

Lacson said the committee would be objective and careful in its probe, as the implications of state-sponsored summary executions were a serious issue.

“We will draw the battle lines. The Senate as an institution, if it finds that these are state-sponsored, will we still support the President? That’s why we’ll be thorough and the evidence must be foolproof. Anyway this is still all hypothetical,” he added.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, a critic of Duterte, welcomed the inquiry but lamented that some senators as well as supporters of the President were “playing blind.”

“If they were not state-sponsored, why have thousands been killed all over the country since Duterte took over?” Trillanes asked.

He said several whistleblowers earlier testified in the Senate that it was the President’s modus operandi to make it appear the victims fought back when he was still mayor of Davao City.

Sense of the Senate

 Pimentel, who called for the caucus last night, said the chamber might pass tomorrow a resolution expressing the “sense of the Senate” on the killings.

He told reporters yesterday that the resolution was “95 percent done.”

On the other hand, Vice President Leni Robredo called for an independent probe into the killing of Delos Santos by the Caloocan City police.

Robredo said an independent investigation must be conducted on the incident, as the barangay security video and accounts from neighbors seemingly contradict the claims of the police.

“What we want is to have an independent investigation to give Kian’s parents closure on what really happened to their son,” she said.

In a separate statement, Robredo’s legal adviser Barry Gutierrez said the Vice President wants an “impartial, non-political body” to conduct the inquiry on Delos Santos’ killing.

“While the Senate is of course free to exercise its mandate to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation anytime, there are advantages to an investigation conducted outside of the glare of the Senate spotlight,” he said.

Lacson and several senators, however, said nothing may come out from an independent body investigating the drug killings.

“Who’s going to appoint the members of the independent commission? The President. The suggestion is sound but the timing is off,” Lacson said.

Trillanes also believed that forming an independent commission was not going to lead to the truth.

“The President will form and fund the independent commission that will issue subpoenas, so he won’t do that because the investigation might lead to his insides,” he said.

Trillanes said the only independent body that could conduct such a probe would be the Senate.

Trillanes,however, reiterated that Sen. Richard Gordon should not lead the inquiry.

Pimentel earlier said there was no clamor in the majority bloc to remove Gordon as chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee.

Congressmen, for their part, wanted to go after the policemen involved in the killing of Delos Santos and other summary killings.

“We should punish those responsible for what happened to Kian and all the other alleged summary killings if there are, and the victims of accidental shooting or abuse, “ Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles said.

Nograles said it would be unfair to slash the proposed 2018 budget of the Philippine National Police only because there are few rotten eggs in the institution. 

“The worst thing that can happen is of course, more of illegal drugs. But that’s not to say we do not give justice to the victims of police abuses,” he said.

Brotherly advice

Lacson, former PNP chief, advised policemen to be more circumspect while pursuing President Duterte’s flagship campaign against illegal drugs.

“They must be discerning. They should not think of their careers under this administration. They should also think of securing the future of their families beyond this administration,” Lacson said.

“They will answer for their misdeeds – if any – committed today in the future,” he said.

“Your career is only until you retire, but your character goes beyond your retirement. It’s there even after death, so that’s more important.”

He said the PNP leadership should not be reckless nor succumb to pressure of producing results in the war on drugs, or be overeager in the campaign.

“It should not be like just anyone will be picked up, killed and planted with a gun or a sachet of shabu, and you say it’s done, we’ve done our job,” Lacson said.

During the 14 months President Duterte has been in power, police have confirmed killing more than 3,500 people – insisting the suspects had resisted arrest or “nanlaban” in police jargon.

More than 2,000 other people have been killed in drug-related crimes and thousands more murdered in unexplained circumstances, according to police that they classified as “deaths under investigation.”

The numbers saw a sudden increase this week, with Duterte praising the police officers that shot dead 32 people in Bulacan as he urged for more.

Following Duterte’s call, at least 44 people were killed in various cities, including Delos Santos whose death sparked a national furor.

The Department of Education (DeEd) condemned the killing of Delos Santos, a Grade 11 pupil of Our Lady of Lourdes School in Valenzuela City.

“The Department denounces all forms of violence against our students, teachers and personnel,” DepEd said.

In a statement, the DepEd said they support the call for an impartial investigation into the killing of Delos Santos by the Caloocan Police.

“We also support President Duterte’s directive to uphold the rule of law, and to put to jail those who will be found responsible for the student’s death,” it said.

On the other hand, a group of overseas Filipino workers has joined the growing call for an immediate stop to the anti-drug war.

Migrante International also expressed support to the family of Delos Santos in their quest for justice. The victim was the son of a Filipino worker in Kuwait. 

“The killings must stop. Heads must roll. Kian’s life is blood on Duterte’s hands. All those who committed, operated and tolerated the spate of killings are complicit and should be held accountable by the Filipino people,” Migrante said. – With Helen Flores, Delon Porcalla, Mayen Jaymalin, Rainier Allan Ronda