Palace tells CHR to file complaints vs. cops if they planned to kill

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) should file complaints against police officers if it has enough evidence that they used excessive and deadly force in the war on drugs, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.

Roque's remark was Malacanang's reaction to the CHR's findings that the police's anti-drug operations showed an "intent to kill."

“Kumalap sila ng ebidensiya, kada biktima, na gumamit ng illegal use of force ang mga pulis para makapag-file sila ng kaso sa fiskal o sa NBI (National Bureau of Investigation). ‘Yan ang dapat gawin ng CHR, hindi iyong dakdak sila ng dakdak,” Roque said.

[The CHR should gather evidence, per victim, that the police indeed used illegal use of force so they can file a case before a public prosecutor or the NBI. That is what they should do, rather than keep on talking].

“Kung may illegal killings, ibigay nila sa piskal at NBI. Wala pong hadlang sa CHR para maging complaint. What they don’t have is prosecutorial powers. They should file a complaint to trigger the criminal justice system,” he added.

[If there were illegal killings, they should file it before the public prosecutors and the NBI. There is no impediment on the CHR being the complainant in this instance].

Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, the chief of the Philippine National Police when the war on drugs started, said the CHR had been making the same remarks since 2016 when he became the head of the national police.

"If they have the evidence then they should file appropriate charges in court," Dela Rosa said.

"Otherwise their claims can be construed as black propaganda," he added.

Based on Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency records, at least 5,942 drug suspects have been killed during police operations.

Human rights organizations, however, claim that drug war related deaths could reach as much as 20,000, including those dismissed by the police as “vigilante killings”. -NB, GMA News