Lawyers: DOJ no help in drug war death trial

MANILA, Philippines —  The homicide conviction of four policemen for a 2016 drug war killing was secured without the help of the Department of Justice (DOJ), according to the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in the National Capital Region.

NUPL-NCR secretary Kristina Conti said yesterday the group acted as a private prosecutor representing the relatives of father and son Luis and Gabriel Bonifacio, who were killed in an anti-drug operation in 2016.

“The NUPL-NCR built up and prosecuted these cases without any material government assistance, contrary to the posturing of the DOJ. With due respect to Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and the government lawyers, no real credit is due them,” she said in a statement.

Conti said the public prosecutor “did not actively participate in the prosecution of the case” and “even testified for the accused.”

“The police did not conduct an autopsy or ballistics examination nor seriously inquire into two deaths in the course of a police operation – and they even got commendations for the operation. These are strong indicators that they were being shielded from accountability,” she said.