The Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) will file charges against anyone, including former President Rodrigo Duterte, over extrajudicial killings (EJKs) if warranted, its acting director said Thursday.
CIDG acting director Police Brigadier General Nicolas Torre III issued the remark in an ambush interview at the Department of Justice (DOJ) when asked if Duterte will be included in the probe on EJKs.
“Titignan natin kung ano ang sasabihin— kung saang direksyon pupunta yung imbestigasyon natin sa mga cold cases na ito,” he said.
(We will see what direction our investigation will go regarding the cold cases.)
“Pag may makita tayong link ng kahit sino, including the former president, then so be it. We will include them to the charges if the evidence warrants,” he added.
(If we see any links to anyone, including the former president, then so be it. We will include them in the charges if the evidence warrants.)
Asked what charges may be filed against those responsible, Torre said that EJKs may be considered murder.
“Well, extrajudicial killings, that will be murder, no?” he said.
When sought for comment, former presidential chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo said that Torre knew that there were supposedly no EJKs as he had been a police officer for a long time.
“Those casualties either resisted or put at risk the lives of the law enforcement agencies. Others were the result of the internecine war between drug syndicates,” he said in a statement.
“If there was evidence on extrajudicial killings on the part of the police operatives, Torre would have already filed the cases against the errant cops during his sting in the previous administration,” he added.
The House of Representatives Quad Committee has been looking into alleged extrajudicial killings that supposedly transpired during the Duterte administration’s anti-illegal drugs campaign.
Authorities have said that there were about 6,000 drug suspects who died during operations, but human rights groups claimed the number could reach as high as 30,000 due to unreported killings. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News
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