The Department of Justice (DOJ) has finished 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.
DOJ Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said Undersecretary Adrian Ferdinand S. Sugay submitted the draft of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) to the NBI and the PNP last Friday, Oct. 15.
“They (NBI and PNP) will be given a reasonable period, maybe a week, to beef up the MOA and include such operational matters as they may deem necessary,” Guevarra said.
He had said that while the draft MOA covers only joint investigation of killings that took place 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).