Palace backs PNP reopening of EJK probes

MANILA, Philippines —  Malacañang yesterday expressed support for the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s plan to reinvestigate high-profile deaths tied to former president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs.

“Of course. The reopening of the investigations of the high-profile killings related to the war on drugs should indicate that the Marcos administration places the highest importance on the fair dispensation of justice and on the universal observance of the rule of law in the country,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a text message.

Bersamin was asked whether the Palace backed the PNP’s plan to reopen probes into the high-profile killings related to the previous administration’s drug war, which left more than 6,000 people dead, based on official records.

When he was president, Duterte, who had described the Philippines as a “narco state,” justified his brutal crackdown, saying it was necessary to save the next generation of Filipinos.

The former president had also directed law enforcers to shoot drug pushers and addicts dead if they feel that their lives are at risk and had vowed to take full responsibility for complaints against the campaign.

Earlier this week, PNP chief Gen. Rommel Marbil revealed that a committee has been formed to look into the allegations of retired police colonel Royina Garma, who claimed that Duterte and other officials had implemented the so-called Davao model that supposedly rewarded the killing of drug suspects.

Garma discussed the alleged payments and rewards scheme during a recent hearing of the House of Representatives quad committee probing the supposed extrajudicial killings tied to the anti-narcotics crackdown.

The incidents mentioned during previous House hearings include the death of three Chinese drug convicts in a Davao prison facility in 2016 and the assassination of former Tanauan, Batangas mayor Antonio Halili in 2018 and former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board secretary Wesley Barayuga in 2020.

Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, who served as PNP chief during the time of Duterte, and Sen. Bong Go, a former top aide of the former president, have denied Garma’s claims about the supposed rewards