Drug war challengers ‘not entitled’ to gov’t reports — Calida

Solicitor General Jose Calida believes that the groups challenging the Duterte administration's war on drugs before the Supreme Court are "not entitled" to copies of all government reports on the controversial campaign.

Access to the "confidential" documents will allow the petitioners to "know the movements of our operatives," Calida told SC reporters on Tuesday.

"They are not entitled to it... Because there are still cases that are still being investigated by law enforcement, by the police," he said.

The Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) and the Center for International Law (Centerlaw), which represent the petitioners in the case, have asked for copies of the drug war reports the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) submitted to the Court on behalf of the government.

The Court already ordered the OSG to furnish copies to FLAG in August last year, but the OSG filed a motion for reconsideration that has not yet been resolved. Saying it was a matter of due process, Centerlaw filed its own request for copies this year.

FLAG and Centerlaw represent alleged victims and relatives of victims of the drug war who have sought protection from police anti-drug operations, as well as the striking down of the deadly campaign's governing order as unconstitutional.

But the case before the High Court "is not about the nationwide alleged EJKs [extrajudicial killings]," Calida said, defending the OSG's position.

"...[S]o what is the connection between the nationwide statistics and a particular case focusing only on Sta. Ana and two other places?" he said. 

He added that the OSG only submitted the documents "out of respect" for the SC, even if the reports "are not germane to the case at hand."

When asked, Calida also said the government has fully complied with the SC's directive for the submission of the drug war-related reports, under the condition that the documents would be for the justices' eyes only.

"...[T]he Supreme Court accepted the documents that we gave to them and there was no order for us to give to the other parties," he said.

Asked if the OSG inferred that the lack of such a directive amounted to an agreement to their condition, the government's chief lawyer said: "What do you think? We did not receive an order." — BM, GMA News