At A Glance
- Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Monday, Sept. 8, that he will direct the Philippine National Police (PNP) to give the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) access its data on extrajudicial killings (EJKs) committed during the Duterte administration.
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Monday, Sept. 8, that he will direct the Philippine National Police (PNP) to give the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) access its data on extrajudicial killings (EJKs) committed during the Duterte administration.
Remulla's move came after Akbayan Party-list Rep. Chel Diokno relayed CHR's struggle to gain access into PNP's drug war records as it allegedly cited an executive order (EO) against freedom of information (FOI) that was issued by the Duterte administration.
"I had some dialogs with the [CHR]...they said that they had been trying to obtain official police reports from the [PNP] pertaining to their investigation into the previous administration's war on drugs, but the PNP, according to the CHR, did not want to cooperate," Diokno said during a House hearing into DILG's proposed 2026 budget.
On Aug. 26, CHR told Diokno during a hearing that the PNP were not complying with their probe into the drug war. It cited that former president Rodrigo Duterte's EO No. 2 classified police investigations as confidential, and exempted them from FOI.
"That information is crucial to the investigation because from there we can identify who is involved and who failed to perform his or her duties," CHR Chairman Richard Palpal-latoc said.
Remulla said he already opened "the books" about the drug war when he assumed the post in October 2024.
Still, he said, he can ask CHR to write to him personally regarding its concern.
"And I will direct the chief PNP to open the books and to give a proper accounting of what we think, with the extradition killings that occurred here in the Philippines," he said.