Malacañang has expressed support for the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) plan to reopen investigations into high-profile killings that occurred during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin confirmed this on Wednesday, highlighting the Marcos administration’s commitment to justice and rule of law.
“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,” Bersamin said.
The move follows revelations by retired police colonel Royina Garma, who implicated Duterte and Senator Bong Go in a cash reward system for officers involved in extrajudicial killings of drug suspects. Garma’s testimony, submitted to the House quad committee, detailed how the former president and his aide allegedly oversaw the reward scheme.
Both Go and former PNP chief Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa, who led the police force during the early years of the drug war, denied knowledge of any such reward system. Go, who served as Duterte’s special assistant before his election to the Senate in 2019, refuted any involvement in the operations.
The Department of Justice had previously reviewed 52 drug war cases, revealing police procedural lapses in half of them. Despite this, charges have only been filed in four cases. The PNP has now vowed to form a committee to investigate the allegations, which may shine a new light on the controversial anti-narcotics campaign that has reportedly claimed over 6,000 lives, though human rights groups estimate higher figures.
