An agreement between the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Philippine National Police (PNP) will soon be forged for joint probes on deaths of suspects who reportedly fought back law enforcers (“nanlaban”) during illegal drugs operations.
Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said the agreement was discussed during a meeting last Tuesday, Oct. 5, with top NBI officials led by Officer-in Charge Director Eric B. Distor.
Guevarra said “the CHR (Commission on Human Rights) will be engaged as the need arises, especially in the matter of coordinating with the victims’ families and their witnesses.”
He said the Department of Justice (DOJ) will assist the NBI and the PNP in the drafting of a formal memorandum of agreement (MOA) on the joint investigations.
He added that while the MOA would involve killings during illegal drugs operations, the NBI and the PNP can expand the scope of collaboration later.
During the Oct. 5 meeting, the NBI and the PNP also discussed the case build-up on the 51 cases involving deaths in drug war operations reviewed by the DOJ.
“We briefed them about the DOJ review panel’s findings on the 52 cases turned over by the PNP, and on our recommendation that further investigation and case build-up be done by the NBI with respect to the possible criminal liability of around 153 police officers involved in anti-illegal drug operations where deaths of suspects occurred,” he said.
“The NBI readily accepted the responsibility and undertook to buckle down to work immediately, using the 52 PNP case files as starting point,” he added.
Earlier, the DOJ said that while records of 52 cases were turned over for review, one of the cases was not related to illegal drugs operations.