De Lima wants probe on series of killings of drug suspects

Senator Leila de Lima on Thursday said she will be seeking a legislative probe on the series of killings of drug suspects.

“Magpa-file nga ako ng resolution dyan, we have to look into that, in aid of legislation, because syempre dumadami at you know there are just telltale signs of summary executions in a number of them. Perhaps some of them are legitimate, meaning talagang nanlaban, nang-agaw, pero di naman pupwede na lahat na lang dyan,” De Lima told reporters.

“Halos araw-araw may mga namamatay and many of them are an offshoot of police operations so we have to look into the legitimacy of the manner of the method by which these police enforcers are doing their job,” she added.

She said the congressional investigation could lead to institutionalizing the operational procedures of the Philippine National Police, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, and other law enforcement agencies.

Laudable but...

De Lima said the all-out offensive of the Duterte administration against illegal drugs is laudable but it should not be done at the expense of human rights and due process.

“It’s very laudable, the all-out offenses, talaga naman. Pero di naman talaga pwede ginagawa iyan at the expense of human rights, at the expense of due process,” she said.

She expressed fear that it might lead to a pattern of executions and could make the country a killing fields of sort.

“(Baka maging) killing fields tayo and the islands would breed of violence. Maybe at this time, okay, natatakot syempre yung criminals dyan, natakot yung mga sindikato dyan dahil pursigido ang administrasyon. But kung maging pattern na yan, summary executions, summary killings, whether or not manlaban, whether or not nang-agaw ng baril, we’re looking at a really messy society because violence breeds violence,” he said.

She was bothered that there seemed to be no proper investigation on the killings that happened.

“There’s an internal affairs unit but I don’t know how active or pro-active our PNP internal affairs office is. Automatic bang iniembestigahan ang mga ganyang mga instances na kapag may operation merong namamatay whether these are suspects or perpetrators," she said.

"And these perpetrators who are police officers themselves, meron bang automatic na nag iimbestiga niyan? Gaano ba ka-seryoso ang pag iimbestiga ng mga ganyan? I have some ideas or certain legislative measures na we can craft based on the results of that inquiry,” she added.

Davao Death Squad

In 2015, then Justice Secretary De Lima said the government has a witness who could testify about Duterte's alleged link to the Davao Death Squad.

The witness claimed to be a former member of the death squad and had pointed to Duterte for allegedly ordering killings in Davao City.

The investigation, however, was stopped after the witness left the DOJ’s Witness Protection Program.

“Yung self-confesed hitman na kinover din namin, under WPP, voluntarily went out of the WPP, nung nalaman niya na mananalo na ang Pangulo. Dahil natakot daw, that’s what I heard…we cannot force the witness under WPP to stay,” De Lima said.

Five police officials

On the naming of five active and retired police director generals allegedly involved in illegal drugs, De Lima said Duterte’s "name and shame tact" demonstrates his seriousness and determination to really stamp out criminality and corruption.

However, she believed there is a violation of due process.

“They (the generals) are still presumption of innocence and therefore, they are entitled to be heard. They should not be put and subjected to trial by publicity,” she said.

She expressed concern on the predicament the National Police Commission could be facing.

“The President has ordered them to investigate, to find out, to determine the truth or lack of it of the allegations against these police generals. But since the President has publicly named them and the way they are saying it, you know there’s a certainty about it. In the first place, you don’t say it if you’re not certain, di siya kumbinsido. Ibig sabihin meron siya dapat mga basehan. Now what if ang findings nga ng Napolcom ay iba so yan ang dilemma,” she said.

Senator Panfilo Lacson, in a separate interview, said there should be a basis such as a complaint or testimony before a congressional inquiry could be called.

“Halimbawa ma-refer sa committee ko ang resolution na ifa-file niya, I won’t call for any investigation unless somebody will come out and mag-present ng yung probability man lang na nagkaroon talaga ng summary execution, then I will. Pero in the absence of any evidence, basta say-so lang ng isa o dalawang tao na baka, sabi niya baka di ba? Anong iimbestigahan natin kung baka?” he said.

Lacson, a former PNP chief, said he does not want to speculate on the operations of the police and wants to give the law enforcers the benefit of the doubt.

“Ako naman, ang presumption lagi is regularity in the performance. Alam ng pulis ang trabaho nila, alam din nila ikakapahamak nila so bayaan natin sila gawin ang trabaho. So kung may ebidensyang lalabas to the contrary they will have to defend themselves sa court. Pero pag-speculate na ni-rubout o pinatay nang walang laban, I think that’s unfair to the police officers involved,” he said. — VVP, GMA News