The current enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) has been hampering the investigation by the inter-agency committee on the suspected extra-judicial killings (EJKs) of activists in Southern Luzon, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said on Monday, April 5.
(TOTO LOZANO / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / FILE PHOTO)
“All of these special investigating teams have already been constituted and sad to say that their movements are somehow restricted by the ongoing situation. We are under ECQ,” he said during the press briefing hosted by Malacanang.
“But they have started working and they will submit their initial reports to me at the soonest possible time,” he said.
ECQ in the National Capital Region and its four adjacent provinces of Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite and Rizal was first imposed for one week that ended last Sunday, April 4.
However, President Duterte extended the ECQ period for another week until April 11 in efforts to curb the rising incidents of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections in the areas.
Guevarra said the Department of Justice (DOJ)-led Administrative Order (AO) 35 Inter-Agency Committee on Extra-judicial Killings has formed special investigating teams (SITs) to probe the deaths of nine activists during the March 7 operations conducted by the police and the military against persons with links to the communist terrorist group in Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Batangas.
Aside from this, Guevarra said the AO 35 committee is also investigating the death of Kilusang Mayo Uno’s Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan (PAMANTIK-KMU) vice chairperson Dandy Miguel who was killed last March 28 in Calamba, Laguna by an unidentified gunman.
Guevarra clarified that while the AO 35 committee is conducting the investigation, it does not mean all of these deaths have been classified as EKJs.
“We’re not saying these are exactly the case of EJKs but based on the initial information that we gathered there is a possibility that it may actually fall under the jurisdiction of the AO 35 committee,” he explained.
“So in the process of the investigation there will be a recommendation whether in fact these are cases of EJKs,” he added.