MALACAÑANG, on Wednesday, expressed support for the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) proposal to conduct another investigation into high-profile drug-related fatalities during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.
In a statement, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said the potential reopening of the probe demonstrated that the Marcos administration “places the highest importance” on justice and the rule of law in the country.
Bersamin responded, “Of course,” when asked if Malacañang supported the PNP’s move.
“The reopening of the investigations of the high killings related to the war on drugs should indicate that the Marcos administration places the highest importance on the fair dispensation of justice and the universal observance of the rule of law in the country,” he added.
PNP spokesman Jean Fajardo stated that they were going to examine drug-war-related homicides, notably those of elected officials along with other well-known figures who were assassinated during the campaign’s height.
The following comes after retired police colonel Royina Garma claimed during a hearing in the House of Representatives on October 11, 2024, that Duterte and other high-ranking officials during his administration sanctioned covert operations on a national scale that replicated the Davao City model of extrajudicial killings.
In her affidavit, Garma stated that Duterte allegedly approached her about the formation of a national task force, with Colonel Edilberto Leonardo serving as a major player in the scheme’s implementation.
Garma claimed Leonardo worked with Duterte and his sidekick, now Sen. Bong Go, to form a task force of “liquidators” across the country.
She also said Leonardo briefed all Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency personnel along with PNP chiefs. He also had the final say on who should be on the watchlist.
However, Duterte’s former spokesman and presidential legal counsel, Salvador Panelo, characterized Garma’s statement as “pure imagination or fertile speculation.”
Panelo additionally questioned Garma’s understanding of the operations, claiming her information was based on “hearsay” and “conveyed or relayed to her by sources.”