Neutralizing impunity

WITH the case of crimes against humanity against Rodrigo Duterte almost certainly going to trial, there is real hope that the climate of impunity, especially among public officials and law enforcers, will dramatically fall.

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The pretrial hearings were not just manifested and vital parts of due process; they were platforms for indictments and not just accusations, from uncontested testimonies from sorrowful indigent families and lawfully-verified witnesses, constantly under death threats, on the horror and unbridled brutality of the Duterte drug war.

PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. is ordering a review of homicide and murder cases involving the police since 2022, most of whom were involved in the street executions or house murders of drug suspects. According to the Human Rights Watch (HRW), most of these cases turned out to be fabricated police reports showing falsified shooting encounters with the suspects.

The PNP is expected to do its part to seriously neutralize the climate of criminal impunity in its ranks and ensure that police units involved in EJKs but illegally absolved are re-investigated to account for their crimes.