Duterte wants police anew to lead drugs war
MANILA: President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte confirmed he wants the Philippine National Police (PNP) lead anew in the war on drugs even as three UN human rights experts called on the Philippine government to investigate killings arising from the brutal and bloody campaign.
Duterte revealed he has yet to sign the order bringing back the PNP as the lead agency in the war on drugs because he was not satisfied with the accomplishments of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Authority (PDEA).
Earlier, Harry Roque, the presidential spokesman, said Duterte was giving back to the police the lead role in the war on drugs to prevent the problem from deteriorating.
“Because the president is returning it (problem) to the police, he must not be satisfied. He wants more,” Roque told a media briefing.
But three UN human rights experts greeted the Duterte announcement by urging the government to review its anti-drug campaign and investigate drug-related killings.
“The Philippine is required to protect its population, and its government has an obligation to take effective measures to protect the right to life. Failure to do so is a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” the three UN human rights rapporteurs stressed in a statement.
The statement was signed by Agnes Calamard (extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions), Michel Forst (situation of human rights defenders) and Diego Garcia-sayan (independence of judges and lawyers).
The statement noted that many of the killings appeared to be perpetrated by law enforcement oficials and by unknown assailants as it warned: “This seems to indicate a climate of oficial, institutional impunity which can only encourage further killings and other excessive use of lethal force by law enforcement personnel or those acting on their behalf or those with their acquiescence.”
In response, Roque said the Duterte administration has shown it would never condone extrajudicial killings and other human rights vilolations by ordering their investigation.
Mincing no worlds, Roque said that, “We will not allow these biased individuals parading themselves as human rights experts to abuse such a mechanism to bully states by concocting falsehoods.”