The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday said it expects more convictions of unscrupulous policemen involved in illegal drugs after another policeman has been found guilty by a lower court for the death of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo.
“We expect more of that (conviction of policemen) because many of the men in uniform did not do their jobs properly and probably even went to the other side. So, if they are caught doing their thing, the law will not choose who to convict. If it is the cops or the other violators of the law, so be it,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said in an interview.
Remulla made the statement after SPO3 Ricky Sta. Isabel was convicted for the death Jee Ick Joo.
Sta. Isabel was part of the defunct Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG), which was disbanded by then-President Rodrigo Duterte out of embarrassment after Jee was strangled to death inside the national police headquarters.
He is the third police officer convicted in relation to Duterte’s war on drugs.
The first to be convicted was three police officers involved in the death Kian delos Santos. Then, in March this year, another police officer was convicted of murder for the death of 19-year-old Carl Angelo Arnaiz and 14-year-old Reynaldo “Kulot” de Guzman.
The government’s investigation of alleged human rights violations during the previous administration’s drug war continued.
Remulla repeatedly says that the government has a functioning judicial system and that they are willing and able to prosecute violations committed during the war on drugs.
