Subject: Philippines: Senate to expose bad cops Tue Aug 16, 2016 6:05 am
SEN. LEILA de Lima on Monday said she had witnesses who could testify against police “scalawags” allegedly behind the summary executions of suspected drug dealers to cover up their involvement in the narcotics trade.
In an open letter in Filipino, De Lima urged Mr. Duterte “to follow the inquiry” of the Senate committee on justice and human rights set to begin on Monday that would detail her allegations against certain officials of the Philippine National Police.
“There is an indication that not all drug suspects are really related to, but that they just coincided with, the campaign against drugs,” she said. “There are deaths that are being done by corrupt officials and their cohorts to cover up their heinous participation in the drug trade. They are not pushing forward, and are instead diverting, the direction of the fight against drugs and sabotaging the good intentions of the campaign,” she added. In an interview with the Inquirer, De Lima said the witnesses would include relatives of some of those killed in police operations. “They (the PNP) should admit that there are scalawags in the institution, and our witnesses will be able to say that there are scalawags in the institution,” said De Lima, a former justice secretary and a former chair of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). Emerging theory One of the “strong” emerging theories, she said, was that police officers involved in drugs were themselves cleaning out those who could spill their dirt, possibly through hiring vigilantes. “It’s a very strong theory based on what we have,” she said.