By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter
IN HIS capacity as President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s adviser on human rights, Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. announced on Tuesday, April 24,that he is currently working with the Philippine National Police (PNP) in documenting all drug-related killings in the country to determine if there are violations and excessive use of force during police operations.
“Although I should not really reveal this because this is not a presidential statement but my work as presidential adviser, I’ve actually coordinated with the police to document each of the killings that they have reported and actually make sure that there is no basis to prosecute our men in uniform in connection with any of these killings. We’re half-way done,” Mr. Roque said in a press briefing.
The spokesman said he expects that his office and the PNP will come up with a report related to drug killings “in the next few months.”
He added: “Yun ang response natin, di totoo na binabalewala namin yan. Iniisa-isa na namin yan (That is our response [to criticisms]. It is not true that we are downplaying [the alleged drug killings]. We are looking at [all of those cases]).”
If there is basis to file charges against the killers, Mr. Roque also said, “then [he] will encourage the filing of charges so that [critics] cannot say anymore that [the government is] not doing anything about it.”
Mr. Roque likewise said he believes the new PNP chief, Director-General Oscar D. Albayalde, will be “cooperative in this regard because he really wants to promote discipline amongst the ranks of the PNP.”
He explained: “He will hasten the process. So I foresee that in the next two or three months, we should be finished and we should come up with the report on how many should be charged, if any. So, next time when they complain again, I will be able to confidently say: That it is not true. We went through each and every case, and we can convincingly say that there was no excessive use of force in these instances.”
BusinessWorld reported last week that the European Parliament, in a resolution on the Philippines dated April 18, flagged Mr. Duterte’s drug war and called for procedural steps toward the temporary withdrawal of the Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP+) status for the country.
Under the GSP+ status, the Philippines has availed itself of as little as zero duties in its exports.
When sought further for comment, Mr. Roque said: “Let me be clear on this. Of course, it’s always their prerogative to review it. But the Philippine government’s position on extra-legal killings, I think it has been made clear over and over again by the President himself. He stands by the police when they are in the discharge of their official functions; when they commit acts outside their official functions, he will order their arrest.”

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