Philippine police implicated in drugs, slayings sacked

Philippine police implicated in drugs, slayings sacked

Police head fires officers tagged by witness who tells Senate inquiry her parents packed drugs for them before being killed

By Hader Glang and Roy Ramos

ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines (AA) – The Philippines’ national police chief has sacked officers implicated in dealing illegal drugs with a couple who was later killed in operations, as the Senate investigates alleged extrajudicial killings following the deaths of hundreds of drug suspects.

Gen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa was quoted by the Manila Bulletin on Monday as saying that law enforcement agencies would not permit the presence of “scalawags” within their ranks to impede President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs.

He told the Senate inquiry that since Duterte’s inauguration June 30, 712 drug suspects were killed in police operations while 1,067 deaths were recorded in "non-police operations" which authorities blame on drug syndicates.

He immediately dismissed policemen in the northern city of Antipolo after they were identified as drug pushers by a witness, who told the hearing that they had supplied drugs to her parents, who were killed in separate police operations in June.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that the witness, Mary Rose Aquino, wore a hooded sweater and sunglasses, with a handkerchief covering her mouth, and told the inquiry that she knew of least 40 officers involved in the drug trade.

“They bring my Papa along in their raids… The drugs they confiscate, they ask my Papa to sell,” she said.

Dela Rosa described the police force’s stance against extrajudicial killings as “uncompromising”, insisting that it “does not and will never condone vigilante killings”.

According to Philstar.com, he underlined his earlier statements that the vigilante killings were “perpetuated by various syndicate groups involved in illegal drugs”. He pledged that any officer found to have killed a suspect for reasons other than self-defense would be “investigated, prosecuted and accordingly punished”.

Duterte won the May 9 election on a crime-fighting campaign, and has pledged to curb corruption and criminality within three to six months.

While human rights groups have expressed concern that violence is quickly getting out of control and people are ignoring laws in apprehending suspects, a survey conducted by Pulse Asia last month showed that 91 percent of respondents said they trust Duterte.

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