PNP to return to drug war if problem worsens

DAVAO CITY  , Philippines  —   It may not be long before the Philippine National Police (PNP) takes back the lead role in the war against illegal drugs, President Duterte has said.

“The drug problem, if it becomes worse again, the police have to enter the picture,” Duterte said during the launching of the farmer’s market of the Department of Agriculture in Davao City last Saturday.

Duterte said he is set to review the anti-illegal drugs operation a month after tasking the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to lead the war against drugs.

Facing stiff opposition and outcry over the thousands killed in the drug war, Duterte pulled out the PNP and assigned the PDEA to take over the campaign.

Duterte was forced to appoint the PDEA to take the lead in the drug war following street protests triggered by the murder of two teenagers allegedly by Caloocan City police.

Duterte in January made a similar move apparently sidelining the PNP, describing the police force then as “corrupt to the core” and giving PDEA the lead role in the drug war.

This was in response to revelations officers kidnapped a South Korean businessman under the guise of a drug raid, then murdered him inside the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame.

However Duterte quickly reinstated the PNP without making any major reforms. Police then announced they were back fighting the drug war with a campaign named: “Double Barrel Reloaded.”

The President said even if he keeps his hands off PDEA operations against those involved in the illegal drug industry, he said will have to review the entire setup one of these days.

Duterte said he doesn’t care about human rights issues, stressing the fight against illegal drugs is a campaign against organized crime.

“I’m sorry. I want it eradicated if possible. I don’t care because we are fighting an organized crime,” he said.

Duterte said the act of one is the act of all in illegal drugs.

“The liability of one is the same liability for all. That is the problem… a lot of us never really understood the problem about drugs. Drug is a merchandise for the poor. They would ask ‘why is it Duterte is targeting the poor?’ Because the rich do not use shabu because they know it is made up of chemical component which will drive them to insanity,” Duterte said.

“Unlike cannabis, heroin, cocaine – it’s a poppy. It’s organic. It will not really destroy the brain just like that overnight. But this shabu is a chemical mixed very deadly. It shrinks the brain,” he said.

Duterte warned those hooked on shabu should bid their lives goodbye.

“So you create insane people and new slaves. You turn citizens into slavery to ache for a chemical everyday. If you do not have the money, you have to steal. If you do not have the money, you have to kill,” he said.

Duterte lamented how the human rights advocates continued to ignore the victims of rape and abuse by drug addicts.

Duterte has said he would be “happy to slaughter” three million drug addicts, and repeatedly vowed that police would not go to jail for killing in his drug war.

Rights groups have warned Duterte may be orchestrating a crime against humanity.

Relatives of people killed by police filed a case in the Supreme Court calling for the drug war to be declared illegal, likening events in the Philippines to the holocaust in Nazi Germany.

The drug campaign has also led to wider violence in which thousands of people have been murdered in unexplained circumstances.

Justified

The PNP has defended before the Supreme Court its controversial war on drugs highlighted by the thousands of drug suspects killed.

Through Solicitor General Jose Calida, PNP chief Director General Ronald de la Rosa and other police officials sought the dismissal of two petitions filed last month by human rights groups Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) and Center for International Law (CenterLaw) assailing the PNP’s “Oplan Double Barrel.”

In a 63-page comment filed last Friday, Calida argued the assailed policy does not violate the constitutional rights to life, to due process of law, to be presumed innocent and to a fair trial – contrary to the allegation of petitioners.

Calida denied Oplan Double Barrel mandates the killings of drug suspects. He said the petitions against it were merely based on “speculations, unfounded information, and unsubstantiated arguments.”

Calida urged the Court not to give due course to what he called “patently baseless petitions,” that he said “would only serve to countenance harassment suits and ‘fishing expeditions’ that distract law enforcement agencies from their principal duties or, worse, dampen their zeal in the pursuit of criminal elements.”

“Ultimately, the ones who will benefit from the grant (of) these petitions will be those who are engaged in the illegal drug trade. This should not be countenanced by this honorable court,” Calida warned.

Calida lamented the “unfortunate” loss of lives from police operations, but stressed that such killings “do not automatically render the anti-drug operation conducted by the respondents unlawful.”

He argued the petitions against war on drugs were filed “under the guise of human rights protection.”

Calida also argued the petitioners are not entitled to writ of amparo, which provides protection to any person whose rights to life, liberty or security is violated or threatened.

He said the petitioners failed to establish substantial evidence of an actual violation of or threat to petitioners’ rights to life, liberty and security that would entitle them to the grant of the interim reliefs prayed for.

The government counsel also stressed that Oplan Double Barrel under Memorandum Circular No. 16-2016 should be presumed legal as it was issued within the authority of the PNP.

“The PNP’s function to serve and to protect necessarily encompasses not only responding to crimes already committed but also preventing their commission,” Calida added.

He further cited the PNP chief’s power to direct and control tactical as well as strategic movements, deployment, placement, use of police personnel, facilities and resources.

Calida also defended Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)’s Memorandum Circular 2017-112 or the “Masa Masid” project, which allows citizens to report any person who may be involved in narcotics through drop boxes put up in some barangays.

Petitioners also questioned this policy, which they likened to the practice of the Japanese imperial army during their occupation in the country and the secret police of Nazi Germany during World War II.

But Calida stressed it is within the mandate of PNP to conduct house-to-house visitations and persuade possible illegal drug personalities to turn themselves in.

“The purpose of Project Tokhang is to persuade the surrender of suspected drug personalities, not to effect their arrest. It is undeniably a valid police measure,” read the comment.

Calida also raised procedural grounds in seeking dismissal of the petitions, specifically citing the impropriety of a class suit, the misjoinder of causes of action and the lack of proper verification and certification against forum shopping.

FLAG filed the petition for two victims of extrajudicial killings identified as Ryan Dave Almora and Rex Appari and a survivor identified as Jefferson Soriano in police anti-narcotics operations.

In the same petition, FLAG sought issuance of writ of amparo and temporary protection order prohibiting police authorities from getting near the residences or workplaces of the families of petitioners.

Almora and Aparri were shot dead during a drug sting operation, while Soriano survived an alleged summary execution attempt.

CenterLaw, on the other hand, filed its writ of amparo petition for families of 35 alleged drug suspects killed in anti-narcotics operations of police over the past year and other residents of San Andres Bukid district in Manila.

The PNP has recorded over 6,000 deaths under investigation since June 2016, while human rights groups put the death toll under the administration’s drug war at 13,000.

The SC is set to hear the case in oral arguments tomorrow. –