House Committee chairperson Robert Ace Barbers said on Sunday that extrajudicial killings (EJKs) can be seen as a “policy” during former President Duterte‘s campaign against drugs. He based this on what Duterte said in front of a Senate committee.
Barbers explained, “If we look at what the president said, we can conclude that it became a policy because it seemed like an order.” He added that they will investigate who is responsible for these killings since many people died, making it hard to point fingers at just one person.
In response, former presidential legal adviser Salvador Panelo stated that if there were extrajudicial killings during Duterte’s drug war, they were not ordered by the government. He said the goal was for police to arrest drug dealers and that officers could use reasonable force if they faced violence, which can include using deadly force in self-defense.
Duterte acknowledged having a group of “gangsters” as a death squad but said he would take full responsibility for his actions without apologizing. He claimed his job was to protect the country and its people and insisted that his drug war aimed to protect innocent people from harmful substances.
Panelo added that when Duterte said he took full responsibility for the drug war, it meant he also accepted any failures. He stated that Duterte should have held officers accountable if they abused their power, which he did in some cases.
According to police records, around 6,000 people died during Duterte’s drug war, but human rights groups believe the actual number may be closer to 30,000.
