CHAIRMAN Chito Gascon of the Commission on Human Rights on Sunday slammed Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa for what he called his ignorance of the law.
He attacked Dela Rosa’s questioning of the commission’s surprise inspection of the Manila Police District’s Station 1 where they found about a dozen people locked up in a crowded secret cell.
“It is prudent that the matters that may involve malfeasance or misconduct by public officials, particularly when this affects fundamental human rights as in this case, that their superiors refrain from making statements that appear to be condoning the same,” CHR public information officer Joel Sarmenta told the Manila Standard in a text message quoting Gascon.
“Otherwise, to do so further encourages the climate of impunity that perpetuates wrongful action because the wrongdoers are not held accountable or punished.”
Sarmenta made his statement even as Human Rights Watch said the Philippine government should immediately release the alleged drug suspects unlawfully detained in the secret jail and ensure their protection after release.
“The official Commission on Human Rights and the National Bureau of Investigation should conduct a joint investigation into the existence of other unofficial lock-up cells in police stations across the country and ensure they are shut down, said Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
Kine said that on April 27, 2017, a CHR team accompanied by journalists raided the Manila District Police Station 1 in Tondo and found at least a dozen people in a cell hidden behind a bookshelf and suffering from grossly overcrowded conditions.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon called for an end to police excesses and impunity in the ongoing war on drugs and urged the authorities to investigate and prosecute the policemen behind the secret jail.
“I condemn this illegal, inhumane and outrageous action committed by some of our policemen,” Drilon said.
He said he was alarmed by the culture of impunity among policemen. Not a single police officer had been held criminally liable in the death of thousands of thousands of people in the campaign against illegal drugs.
Dela Rosa had slammed the CHR for inspecting Raxabago Station 1 in Tondo on Thursday night and questioned the timing.
Said Gascon in reply: “As to his allusions as to timing, it is best he does his job as we will, too.
“Bato should not so quickly brush this aside! That he would choose, by his statement, to even justify the operation of this hidden jail reflects his personal ignorance of both the constitutional and legal provisions that prohibits the maintenance of secret detention facilities by public authorities.”
The CHR is pushing for an inventory of all detention facilities.
“I challenge him [Dela Rosa] to undertake a full audit of all places of detention under the control of the PNP to ensure no other cases akin or similar to what was covered in MPD Station 1 exists as I am concerned that this may not be an isolated incident,” Gascon said. With Sandy Araneta and Macon Ramos-Araneta
