Trillanes doubts PNP can produce reports on drug killings

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said yesterday he does not believe the Philippine National Police (PNP) would be able to produce any concrete report on the killings related to the administration’s war on drugs as ordered by the Supreme Court.

Trillanes said the killing of drug suspects who supposedly resisted arrest in so-called legitimate police operations were questionable and unjustified.

He said the PNP would not be able to produce forensic, ballistic and other data needed in shooting incidents because these do not exist.

Trillanes said the PNP could not come up with an inventory of the guns allegedly used by the suspects because the firearms were “recycled by police during separate operations.”

“That is the problem of the PNP so they cannot come up with the report. Now, here is the Supreme Court testing them. But the question is, how far will they go? Can they cite in contempt, can they force Duterte to produce this? We’ll see,” he said.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian urged the PNP to comply with the high court’s order to produce data on drug-related deaths.

“Like everyone else, I want to see a clearer picture of the on-the-ground realities of the anti-drug campaign and the submission of these documents will help make this possible,” Gatchalian said.  

“This is about fostering transparency and accountability in the conduct of the drug war, and the PNP should cooperate as much as they can without sacrificing the integrity of police investigations,” he added.