Guevarra admits ‘not so flattering’ findings in drug war review

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Friday the inter-agency panel that is looking into the deaths as a result of the campaign against illegal drugs made “not so flattering” findings in its initial report.

Copies of the initial report, which covered incidents in Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, and some cities, had been forwarded to the Office of the President and the Philippine National Police, Guevarra said at the Laging Handa briefing.

“We provided a copy of the report where we made certain findings, not so flattering against certain police enforcement officers involved sa drug operations and we gave the PNP sufficient time to comment on these findings,” he said.

“But be assured that this report, at least the findings and the highlights of this report, will be made public at the proper time.”

Guevarra said the panel will also investigate deaths from drug war operations in Visayas and Mindanao.

“We do not want to make it appear na iyong findings namin in certain pilot areas like Region III, Region IV and certain major cities ay truly representative of what is happening throughout the country,” he said.

“We will also include iyong mga actions that we intend to take arising from these findings. So hinihintay lang namin iyong tamang time para i-share but there is no intent to hide. You know the issue of transparency is very important to us.”

The Department of Justice leads a panel of several government agencies, including law enforcement units, in reviewing 5,655 anti-drug operations that resulted in deaths to see whether to file charges against the police officers involved.

Guevarra announced the creation of the panel last June, weeks after the United Nations human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, released a report finding "near impunity" for alleged extrajudicial killings committed in the Philippines.

Last week, UN special rapporteur Agnes Callamard suggested that the Philippines’ review of deadly anti-narcotics operations should also cover people who allegedly incited the killings.

Guevarra said that the special rapporteur's premise assumes that the killings are being encouraged, which he said is something "that is yet to be clearly established in each case."

"Nevertheless, the review panel will consider all relevant issues in the pursuit of its objective of exacting accountability," he said.

Malacañang has repeatedly said that the deaths linked to the drug war were neither state-initiated nor sponsored despite observations that President Rodrigo Duterte’s rhetoric may have incited violence against drug suspects.—AOL, GMA News