Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra on Wednesday, April 13, said the Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating allegations that law enforcers falsified the death certificates of persons to reportedly cover up their actual causes of deaths during illegal drugs operations.
“The alleged falsification of death certificates as cover-up for the true cause of death is part of the drug war review being conducted by the DOJ, with the assistance of the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation),” Guevarra said.
His statement was issued after forensic expert Dr. Raquel Fortun presented her findings last Tuesday, April 12, on the examinations she made on the exhumed remains of 46 persons who were killed during the first year of President Duterte’s drug war.
Fortun revealed that among those she examined there were seven death certificates which indicated that the victims died of natural causes like sepsis, pneumonia and hypertension.
She also said there was one case that a death certificate has been found missing, while, there were many others who have incomplete death certificates.
Guevarra assured that the DOJ will “give special attention to the death certificates.”
“The original problem that we encountered was the absence of a copy of the death certificate in some records or files that we reviewed,” he disclosed.
On June 30, 2020, Guevarra told the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that the Philippine government is conducting “a judicious review of the 5,655 anti-illegal drug operations where deaths occurred.” all of which took place during the administration of President Duterte.