Probe of drug killings sought
NEARLY two years after former president Rodrigo R. Duterte stepped down from power, a congressman wants to open an investigation into alleged extra-judicial killings (EJK) during his administration in the House of Representatives.
“The main point of my committee is to be able to determine the human rights violation on these (incidents),” House Committee on Human Rights Chair and Manila Rep. Bienvenido M. Abante, Jr., speaking partly in Filipino, said in a media briefer. “For example, the drug pushers, why didn’t they undergo legal processes, why were they killed immediately?”
A total 8,663 Filipinos have been killed under Mr. Duterte’s “war on drugs,” according to a report by the United Nations (UN) Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Estimates by Philippine human rights groups are three times more than the United Nations figure, indicating that around 27,000 to 30,000 throughout his administration.
However, Mr. Abante said that the proposed investigation will not call Mr. Duterte or his former police chief, Senator Ronald M. dela Rosa, to the hearing.
They would not be invited due to parliamentary courtesy reasons, Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said in the same briefing, noting that “the House really gives primacy on the parliamentary courtesy principle.”
Among the high-ranking officials set to be invited to the House panel would be former Department of Justice (DoJ) Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra and former PNP Chief Oscar D. Albayalde, who succeeded Mr. Dela Rosa as head of the Philippine National Police. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio