Funeral home workers retrieve the bodies of two men killed in an alleged shootout with antidrug policemen on Do帽a Hemady Street, Barangay Kristong Hari, in Quezon City. 鈥擩AM STA ROSA / FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The Department of Justice (DOJ) has started its audit of 53 police antidrug operations that resulted in the death of drug suspects, an official said on Wednesday.
Justice Undersecretary Adrian Sugay said they opted to begin the review of the initial batch of 鈥渘anlaban鈥� cases, or incidents wherein drug personalities allegedly fought it out with policemen, pending the approval of the memorandum of agreement between the DOJ and the Philippine National Police.
The two agencies agreed to sign the agreement to formalize their coordination in looking into thousands of killings of drug personalities attributed to President Duterte鈥檚 bloody war on drugs.
鈥淲e are currently evaluating the 53 cases. We will have to finish this [first batch of cases],鈥� Sugay told reporters.
鈥淎 team of DOJ lawyers is undertaking the evaluation,鈥� he added.
Open records
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra earlier disclosed that new PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, who took the helm of the 220,000-strong force on May 7, had acceded to the DOJ鈥檚 request to check the PNP鈥檚 records on police operations that led to the death of drug suspects.
Guevarra said Eleazar鈥檚 decision ended his predecessors鈥� policy that made it 鈥渞ather difficult鈥� for a DOJ-led review panel to carry out the President鈥檚 order to look into the government鈥檚 brutal drug war.
But barely a week later, Mr. Duterte invoked national security when he claimed that police records on his administration鈥檚 antinarcotics drive should be kept from the public since these contained confidential information about certain personalities.
His pronouncement contradicted the Supreme Court鈥檚 ruling in 2018, which declared that records involving the deaths of drug suspects during police operations had nothing to do with national security.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon had also weighed on in the issue, citing the public鈥檚 right to 鈥渒now the truth.鈥�
鈥淭o claim that it involves national security is unfounded. By any stretch of the imagination, I could not think how would a single poorest of the poor Filipino, who was killed in an antinarcotics operation, have planned to overthrow the government?鈥� the senator, who also served as justice secretary, said in a statement.