THE Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday said four of the 52 alleged extrajudicial killings (EJK) committed by police authorities during anti-illegal drug operations have so far been filed before the regional trial courts (RTC).
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said most of the cases submitted by the Philippine National Police (PNP) are still with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) undergoing case build-up.
The 52 cases were earlier referred to the NBI by the DOJ-led inter-agency panel tasked to review anti-illegal drug operations where deaths occurred after it observed missing autopsy reports and death certificates, lack of ballistics and paraffin test results, use of excessive force and contradicting statements of policemen involving these operations.
There are more than 150 police officers involved in the 52 cases who might face criminal charges depending on the outcome of the NBI’s case build-up.
“Per the initial report of the NBI dated 4 January 2022, most of the 52 cases turned over by the PNP Internal Affairs Service are still under evaluation by the regional offices of the NBI or are presently subject of case build-up,” Guevarra said.
The four cases that have reached the courts involving deaths are: Carl Angelo Arnaiz (RTC-Navotas City); Richard Santillan and Gessamyn Casing (RTC-Cainta); Anwar Sawadjaan, Noel Bacalzo, and Angelo Hofer (RTC-Zamboanga Del Norte); Sharif Amatonding (RTC-San Pedro, Laguna).
The killing of Arnaiz, a 19-year-old former student of the University of the Philippines, drew condemnation of the government’s anti-illegal drug campaign.
On the other hand, Santillan, former Biliran representative Glenn Chong’s aide, was killed along with his female companion Casing during a police operation in Barangay San Andres, Cainta, Rizal last May 17, 2019.
Sawadjaan, 19, Hofer , 20 and Bacalzo, 22, all residents of Ipil Zamboanga, Sibugay were allegedly killed in a shootout with policemen along a highway in Zamboanga del Norte on July 29, 2016.