Officials of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are set to meet to discuss what actions have been taken against policemen whose operations against illegal drugs resulted in deaths to suspects.
Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra on Tuesday, May 11, said that “DILG Sec. Año and new PNP Chief Gen. Eleazar have expressed their support to the DOJ-led panel reviewing cases of deaths arising from illegal drug operations.”
Specifically, Guevarra said he would like to know what actions the DILG and PNP have already taken against erring policemen including the filing of criminal charges.
DOJ records showed it had reviewed 328 of the 5,655 police operations against illegal drugs that resulted in deaths to suspects.
Last Feb. 24, Guevarra reported to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that the DOJ-led inter-agency review found that “in more than half of the records reviewed, the law enforcement agents involved failed to follow standard protocols pertaining to coordination with other agencies and the processing of the crime scene.”
“Our initial and preliminary findings confirm that in many of these cases, law enforcement agents asserted that the subject of anti-drug operations resisted arrest or attempted to draw a weapon and fight back,” he said.
“Yet, no full examination of the weapon recovered was conducted. No verification of its ownership was undertaken. No request for ballistic examination or paraffin test was pursued until its completion,” he added.
Also, Guevarra said the review panel found that “the law enforcement agents involved failed to follow standard protocols pertaining to coordination with other agencies and the processing of the crime scene.”
The DOJ panel had submitted its findings to President Duterte and the PNP, he said.