Andanar says Amnesty International’s report on PHL’s war on drug unfair

Presidential Communications chief Martin Andanar has described as unfair a finding by the Amnesty International that cops are paid to kill under anti-illegal drugs campaign Oplan Tokhang (Photo: Martin Andanar/Facebook)

MANILA—Presidential Communications chief Martin Andanar has described as unfair a finding by the Amnesty International that cops are paid to kill under anti-illegal drugs campaign Oplan Tokhang.

”This report of Amnesty International, I think, that is unfair. The investigation comes out as a very subjective investigation. It is not fair, it is not objective,” Andanar said in radio interviews on Thursday.

Andanar said the government is not stopping any organization including a non-profit Amnesty International from conducting investigation but it should be done with fairness.

”It should not be you will go to one country with pre-conceived notion and you knew already what you want to happen in your investigation,” Andanar said in an interview with DWFM.

Andanar said the Amnesty International should also investigate the extra judicial killings and human rights violations of government’s enemies like drug syndicates and drug lords, the terrorist groups in Sulu and Basilan and other insurgency-infested areas of the country.

”There are plenty of human rights victims in Jolo, Sulu,” he said.

The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary said it was impossible that the Philippine National Police (PNP) Headquarters was giving out USD400 to policeman who could kill drug addict.

”I think it would be impossible that PNP can afford to pay USD400 per head because if you pay Php20,000 per head and multiply it to 7,000 (allegedly killed in war on drug), so that’s Php140 million. So where PNP will get that money since even the salaries for police are not enough,” Andanar explained.

Andanar said the job of the Amnesty International to interfere on the affairs of other countries.

”That’s really their job to look at the human rights violations of other countries and they need to create all these reports,” he said in a separate radio DWIZ interview.

He said the Amnesty International, as a non-profit organization, receives funds from their benefactors and “they need to prove that they deserve of the funds.”

Andanar said the strong campaign against illegal drugs will continue, this time under the watch of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

”He (President Duterte) assigned it to PDEA. Once again, the war against illegal drugs did not stop or will not stop,”

He said PDEA Director General Isidro Lapena and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea talked last Wednesday to discussed a draft of an executive order in relation to anti-illegal drug campaign.

Earlier, President Duterte said he will issue order allowing military to join the war against illegal drugs.

President Duterte has ordered the abolition of all PNP’s anti-drug groups to give way internal cleansing of the police following a kidnap-slay of Korean executive Jee Ick Joo involving policemen.