SOME deaths in the bloody drug war were the ”handiwork of government,” President Rodrigo Duterte admitted Wednesday as he raised the reward for the heads of scalawag cops to P3 million.
“Handiwork of government. Meron ‘yung lumaban, admitado namin ‘yan,” Duterte said in an interview with state broadcaster PTV4 when asked if some of the deaths in the drug war were not the result of the government’s anti-narcotics drive.
But he described the incidents as “organized crime” that he was not yet ready to divulge.
He insisted he was ready to face charges because of the bloody drug drive once he stepped down from office after five years.
“Ako, admitahin ko. Sino… Sino ‘yung nagkaroon ng engkwentro? Sige, akin ‘yan. Sabi ko, “I will hold myself solely responsible.” Balang araw kung gusto nila akong i-demanda, eh ‘di i-demanda mo.
“It would be my pleasure to go to prison for my country.”
Duterte made the pronouncements as he raised the bounty on alleged ninja cops to P3 million, saying the government’s crackdown on scalawags had somehow been slow.
“Wala namang nahuli na ninja cops. I’m raising the ante to P3-million per head,” the President said in his speech during the conferment ceremony of 2017 Outstanding Government Workers in Malacañang.
In August 2016, Duterte offered a P2-million reward to those who could give information that would lead to the capture of “ninja cops” dead or alive.
“‘Yung ninja cops, ilan ba ang nag-surrender? Balutin mo lang ‘yung ulo nila, ilagay mo diyan sa hagdanan ko, okay na ‘yan. No questions asked,” Duterte said in a speech before government officials.
“Iyong mga p***** i***** pulis na ‘yan, g***”
Despite that, Duterte reiterated his vow to protect policemen in their performance of their duty and to give them legal assistance if needed.
He then slammed the Commission on Human Rights that he barred from accessing the Philippine National Police’s case folders on the drug war.
“So kung sabihin mo ‘yung report na ‘yung build-up case tapos ‘yung action taken, kung ‘yan ang hingiin ninyo, ‘di ko ibigay. You know why? I did not do it.
“It was Gloria Arroyo who did it. She raised the level of the drug issue as a national security problem. That is part of the state secrets”
“Ngayon, ‘yung nakita ninyong patayan diyan na pulis na inaabuso kung walang sumobra, i-prosecute natin. But do not look into the”•inside the entrails of the operation.”
The case folders contain police spot, investigation, forensic and inventory reports of all the killings related to the war on drugs, both in and out of police operations.
The CHR is constitutionally mandated to investigate human rights violations committed by state actors such as policemen and soldiers.
