Policemen, who have been cleared by the Philippine National Police-Internal Affairs Service (PNP-IAS) of liability in the deaths that occurred during their illegal drugs operations, are not yet off the hook.
Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra on Wednesday, July 21, said the Department of Justice (DOJ) plans to review their cases even if they had been absolved by the PNP-IAS.
“We will also take a look at the more than 6,000 cases which are also investigated by the PNP-IAS but where the respondents were exonerated for insufficiency of evidence,” Guevarra said during the pre-State of the Nation Address (SONA) forum.
Last June 1, the PNP-IAS submitted to the DOJ the records of 52 cases of illegal drugs operations that resulted in deaths to suspects and where certain PNP members have been held administratively accountable.
“We are about to wind up with the review of 52 cases turned over to us by the PNP-IAS,” Guevarra said.
“Itong naunang 52 cases doon may finding na administrative liability ang PNP Internal Affairs Service so yun ang ang uunahin namin dahil may nakita na sila doon (We are investigating these first 52 cases because the PNP-IAS already found administrative liability among the policemen involved),” he said.
As part of the government’s commitment before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), a DOJ-led review panel has been reviewing since last year cases involving deaths during illegal drugs operations that have taken place since 2016 under the administration of President Duterte.
Aside from the PNP, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) also submitted to the DOJ last June 10 the records of seven cases of deaths during its operations.