“Any attempt to conduct a Senate investigation by any member especially of that particular senator who wants to conduct the investigation may be viewed as an attempt to discredit the police operations against the drug menace,” presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo said in an interview on July 11.
De Lima, who served as chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and later as Justice Secretary, had engaged Duterte in a word war over the summary killings when Duterte was mayor of Davao City and during the campaign period for the May 9 elections.
“While it’s the duty of a member of Congress to initiate investigation with respect to the Senate investigation involving killings of drug pushers, it appears as I can see it there is no basis other than speculation and conjecture,” he said.
“As a manner of protocol or procedure, the police agency conducts immediately an investigation when a civilian is killed in the process of arrest,” Panelo argued.
De Lima said on July 8 that she will be filing a resolution seeking a legislative probe on the series of killings of drug suspects.
“We have to look into that, in aid of legislation, because syempre dumadami, at you know there are just telltale signs of summary executions in a number of them. Perhaps some of them are legitimate, meaning talagang nanlaban, nang-agaw, pero di naman pupwede na lahat na lang dyan,” de Lima said in an interview.
She said that while the Duterte administration’s all-out offensive against illegal drugs is laudable, it should not be done at the expense of human rights and due process.
“Halos araw-araw may mga namamatay and many of them are an offshoot of police operations so we have to look into the legitimacy of the manner of the method by which these police enforcers are doing their job,” she explained.
The legislative probe, she said, could lead to institutionalizing the operational procedures of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), and other law enforcement agencies.
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) estimated the total number so far of drug suspects killed in the government's intensified campaign against drug syndicates at 150 or even higher since the May 9 elections.
CHR commissioner Robert Cadiz said the number might be higher since not all incidents are reported in the media.
"Since (Duterte) took his oath of office, parang there is an average of 10 in EJK (extrajudicial killings) case per day," Cadiz said. "I think that is alarming."
Police records show a much lower number — 103 from May 10 to July 3, 2016, or at least two drug suspects killed per day.
Cadiz supported de Lima’s initiative for a legislative probe on the killings. “I think it (Senate hearing) is well justified. The circumstances call for it. In aid of legislation, nothing can prevent the senators from conducting an inquiry. The CHR, we have created a task force on extra judicial killing. We are monitoring these incidents and I believe we are moving towards an inquiry also,” Cadiz said.
Among the eight regions that reported extrajudicial killings, Region IV (Southern Tagalog) recorded the most number with 43, followed by Region III (Central Luzon) with 31 and Region 7 (Central Visayas) with 8.
The CHR, which is opposed to the killings, noted that 90 percent of the slain suspects came from low-income families.
Cadiz said the government should go after big-time drug lords if it is serious in ending the drug menace in the country.
"Baka mamaya ang nagtuturo doon sa mga pinapatay [ay] mga sindikato rin, trying to eliminate the competition," he said.
Cadiz clarified the constitutional body is not protecting criminals but only looking after the lives of the innocent.
He also urged the public to make a stand on the spate of extrajudicial killings.
"If we do not speak, this will continue into the next six months, and then another six months, and another six months. Many innocent people would have lost their lives by then. And what if it’s already your kin, your son, your brother, your father, who is being killed? Saka ka lang magsasalita ng due process?" Cadiz said.
Solicitor General Jose Calida earlier told the police not to be afraid of legislative inquiries, assuring them that they have the backing of the government.
"We will not allow anybody to derail this effort of the PNP (Philippine National Police) and its officers to implement the order of our President, to stop this drug trafficking and drug menace in our society," Calida said.
