PNP submits drug war data to Supreme Court

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) has started submitting to the Supreme Court (SC) the case folders of nearly 4,000 documented killings under the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.

The PNP submitted data on 35 killings in compliance with the order issued by the high court to meet the deadline on April 26.

In a resolution issued in December last year, the SC ordered the PNP to submit the records of 3,806 killings attributed to the government’s campaign against drugs.

The high tribunal will use the data to rule on the petitions seeking to stop the PNP from implementing Oplan Double Barrel and the Department of the Interior and Local Government’s “Masa Masid” project.

Saying it could not submit all records on time, the PNP asked the high court to extend the deadline to June 25.

“The respondents request for an extension of 60 days to submit other documents required by the court,” read the pleading filed through Solicitor General Jose Calida.

After hearing the petitions of human rights organizations Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) and Center for International Law (CenterLaw) to stop the drug war in oral arguments last year, the SC directed the PNP to submit the records of the drug-related killings.

The PNP filed an appeal, arguing that such order was “irrelevant to the question on the constitutionality of its Oplan Double Barrel project.”

The SC dismissed the appeal and ordered the PNP to comply with the order.

FLAG is representing two victims of extrajudicial killings, Ryan Dave Almora and Rex Appari as well as Jefferson Soriano, who survived an alleged execution attempt during an anti-narcotics operation.

In its petition, the group led by De La Salle University law dean Jose Manuel Diokno sought the issuance of a writ of amparo and temporary protection order prohibiting police from going near the residents or work places of the families of the petitioners.

CenterLaw, on the other hand, is representing the families of 35 drug suspects killed by police during anti-drug operations as well as other residents of San Andres Bukid in Manila.