De Lima urged Senate to investigate ex-police claims on police abuse

Photo: Leila De Lima/Facebook.com

Senator Leila De Lima filed Proposed Senate Resolution 358, prompting the Senate to look into the claims of former police officer Vincent Tacorda who revealed that some senior officers in the Philippine National Police have refused  to campaign against illegal drugs.

She also called the attention of the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police to investigate and verify the allegations.

“Given the appalling numbers of extrajudicial killings and summary executions under this administration, it is imperative to check if there are abuses and excesses in the exercise of authority of law enforcement units, and to ensure that due process and the rule of law are always upheld,” she said.

It was last month when Tacorda had resigned from the police force in Catanduanes, stating that it was the unbearable culture of abuse of power in the police force. He had also accused former Catanduanes Police Superintendent, Jesus Martinez, and former Viga Officer-in-Charge Senior Inspector, Natahnial Jacob, of ordering him to kill Samuel Rojas, a suspected drug pushed in Viga.

Tacorda also revealed that there are indeed instances wherein officers in a similar  position  were ordered to plant evidence during raids and arrests.

Being from Bicol herself, De Lima believes that Tacorda’s confession could be instrumental in proving that extrajudicial killings are being committed under the banner of the Duterte Administration’s war on drugs.

In an online report dated April 30, De Lima said that Tacorda is ready to reveal everything  that he knows about how the drug war had escalated.