PNP: No cover-up in 'drug war'; more than 5K cops dismissed for 'abuse'
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police on Thursday rebuffed the report of a international investigating panel that circumstances behind the killings in the Duterte administration's "war on drugs" are being covered up.
A Department of Justice-led review last year of drug cases where suspected drug personalities were killed found lapses in protocol. The Commission on Human Rights has also repeatedly raised concerns over a lack of cooperation from the police on possible cases of rights violations in law enforcement operations.
In a statement, Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, PNP chief, said there is no policy to cover up wrongdoings and abuse in police ranks.
"We are aware of these allegations but we also inform our compatriots that more than 18,000 police officers have been punished in the past five years and this includes the dismissal of more than 5,000 in our ranks due to various cases of abuse of power," he said.
What did the report say?: Investigate PH in a second report that will be sent to the 47th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council said that police officers block attempts at transparency and accountability.
"Police routinely cover up the circumstances of killings in anti-drug operations, intimidate families and potential witnesses, and obstruct review of most killings," it said.
Witness interviews by the group found that the friends and families of victims are intimidated and even threatened to keep quiet. Meanwhile, police leadership points to the lack of formal complaints as evidence that operations are done by the book.
According to witnesses, cops still visit relatives of victims years after their family members are killed in operations to ask if they intend to file complaints.
"Instinctively the people say 'no,' hoping that the police will leave them alone. They fear for the lives of their other children," Investigate PH said.
"Evidence indicates that unarmed victims have been executed either in their home, on the street or after being abducted, with weapons or drugs likely planted after," the report also read, citing photographic evidence of victims who were handcuffed and unarmed when they were shot.
Independent autopsies on drug war victims also found that there was "no genuine police inquiry into the cause of death" on the part of the authorities. Death certificates and police examinations were found lacking as they did not record X-rays of victims or evidence of defensive wounds.
Selective transparency?: While the national police does take action in high-profile murder cases by cops, it also grants a presumption of regularity in the killings of activists and drug suspects.
The police general also defended the 'nanlaban' narrative — that suspects end up dead because they forced cops to shoot — saying police officers are also harmed in their operations and are forced to fight back.
"It's coming out that the lives of our policemen were really in danger...I also remind you that there are deaths and injuries on our side in our tough campaign against illegal drugs," he said.
Eleazar also pointed to the case folders submitted to the justice department for review on police anti-illegal drug operations where there were deaths, either of suspects or police operatives.
The PNP has also send the DOJ 53 files from its Internal Affairs Service out of the over 6,000 deaths in anti-drug operations .
"I understand your point of ensuring a professional PNP and of a human rights-based approach in the conduct of our operations but what I can assure you is that these are all being observed and strictly monitored," the PNP chief claimed.
— Franco Luna
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