NBI to probe 250 more cases of former President Duterte’s drug war
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has started probing 250 more cases of deaths during the drug war operations under the Duterte administration.
“Prior to our assumption to office there are 250 other cases referred to the NBI by Secretary Menardo Guevarra [now Solicitor General] and the NBI is working on them,” Remulla said during a press conference
Remulla said that the 250 cases are separate from the 52 cases that were submitted previously by the Philippine National Police (PNP) for review before the DOJ.
DOJ Undersecretary Jesse Hermogenes T. Andres said that among the 52 cases, six have been dismissed or the families of the victims have expressed their intention to no longer pursue their complaints.
“However, seven have already been subject of a case build up and these are already filed in court. And we are very confident with the evidence to be presented in these seven cases,” Andres added
Accordingly, Remulla appealed to the witnesses to come forward and help in the prosecution of these cases
“The problem will always be the dearth of witnesses. There is always a lack of witnesses who are needed to be able to prosecute a case successfully.” He lamented while also giving assurance that they can take care of the witnesses and give them protection.
Remulla stated that the country’s justice system is still functioning and that there is no need for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the attested crimes committed during the drug war.
Additionally, Andres explained that the ICC can only conduct an investigation only if there is an “inability of the present state of government to address the institutional measures”
“However, it is very clear, based on existing laws and existing agencies and government instrumentalities, that everything is being addressed at our own level competently and adequately through institutional measures,” Andres further explained.
The Philippine government has already withdrawn in 2018 from the Rome Statute creating the ICC, the Manila Bulletin stated.
Remulla expressed the belief that the country will not become a pariah following the declaration of President Marcos that the Philippines will not rejoin the ICC.
Despite that, Remulla assured that the Philippine government will respond to the ICC’s request to comment on the request of ICC Prosecutor, Karim Khan, to resume the investigation of the drug war.
“It’s not a matter of compliance. We are not doing this because we have to comply with anything. We will just furnish them with information just to show that they have requested the information, we will give it to them out of courtesy and comity,” he explained.
Tags: #DOJ, #NBI, #DrugWar