The Department of Justice (DOJ) is expected to finish until Friday, Oct. 15, the draft of an agreement that would enable the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to conduct joint probes on cases of deaths of suspects who allegedly fought back law enforcers (nanlaban) during illegal drugs operations.
Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra on Tuesday, Oct. 12, said: “The office of DOJ Undersecretary Adrian Sugay is drafting the MOA (memorandum of agreement) for the NBI and PNP’s consideration.”
“Of course, the NBI and the PNP will be free to modify the draft as they deem necessary,” Guevarra said.
He explained that the NBI and the PNP have the “final say on how to operationalize their agreement to cooperate.”
He also said that while the agreement would cover only joint investigations of killings during anti-illegal drugs operations, the NBI and PNP “can expand the scope of collaboration later.”
The coming out with a MOA was arrived at after the DOJ finished its review on 51 cases of killings that took place during police anti-illegal drugs operations.
The results had been submitted to President Duterte and both the PNP and the DOJ agreed to turn them over to the NBI for case build-up.
Involved in the initial cases are 153 policemen whose alleged administrative liability had been determined by the PNP’s Internal Affairs Service (IAS).