Barbers: We can conclude EJKs were policy in Duterte admin’s war on drugs

Extrajudicial killings can be concluded as being "policy" during the Duterte administration’s war on drugs, House Quad Committee chairperson Robert Ace Barbers said Sunday.

“Kung pagbabasehan natin yung mga nabitawang statement ng ating pangulo [Duterte], maari na tayong magkaroon ng conclusion na naging polisiya ito dahil naging parang order ito,” the Surigao del Norte congressman told Super Radyo DzBB in an interview, referring to former president Rodrigo Duterte's testimony before the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee on the drug war.

(If we base it on the former president's statements, we can reach the conclusion that this became policy because it was ordered.)

“Pero sabi nga natin pag-aaralan natin, imbestigahan natin kung sino-sino ang may accountability dito. Mahirap kasi na ituro lamang sa iisang tao itong pag-i-implement nito dahil kung libo-libo ito, sino dapat ang managot dito?” he added.

(We will look into it. We will investigate who is accountable because it would be difficult to point to only one person since thousands died, so who will be held responsible for their deaths?)

In a Viber message, former presidential chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo said the extrajudicial killings, “if ever there was one,” during the Duterte administration’s drug war were “not state-sponsored.”

“The policy was for the law enforcers to arrest, jail, and file cases against those involved in illegal drug trafficking, and if there is any violent resistance from the suspects to overcome it with reasonable force, including killing them, which is lawful under the law following the principle of self-defense,” Panelo said.

“No admission was made by PRRD in the commission of any crime nor was there any admission to his having created a Davao Death Squad,” he added.

During the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee hearing, Duterte said he had a death squad made up of "gangsters."

The former president also said he would take "full, legal responsibility" for his administration's war on drugs but will not apologize for it.

"My mandate as President of the Republic was to protect the country and the Filipino people. Do not question my policies because I offer no apologies, no excuses. I did what I had to do. Whether you believe it or not, I did for my country," Duterte said.

“The war on drugs is not about killing people. It is about protecting the innocent and the defenseless. The war on drugs is about the eradication of illegal substances such as shabu, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, party drugs, and the like,” Duterte added.

Salvador said when the former president took full responsibility for the war on drugs, he “assumed responsibility for its failure,” and its success should be credited to him and his law enforcers.

“It was also his responsibility to file cases against policemen who abused their authority in the performance of their duty, which he did, as in the case of Kian Delos Santos and others who were victims of police brutality,” Panelo said.

“The illegal acts committed by the agents of the law and the corresponding criminal responsibility can not be assumed by him because a crime is personal to the offender. It’s intransferable,” he added.

Deaths during the Duterte administration’s drug war reached around 6,000 based on police records, but human rights groups contend that the deaths reached about 30,000. — BM, GMA Integrated News