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Probe into Amnesty International allegations sought
Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero Escudero, former chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, said he also wanted Amnesty International to explain their findings and present their sources at the legislative inquiry. (Photo: Francis Chiz Escudero/Facebook)
MANILA—Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Thursday sought for a probe into Amnesty International’s (AI) claims that the “Duterte administration has ordered and even paid some police to kill alleged drug suspects “.
Escudero said that he will be filing a resolution next week for the Senate to look into what he described as “serious allegations” by the international human rights watchdog.
In AI’s report titled, “If you are poor you are killed”: Extrajudicial Executions in the Philippines’ “War on Drugs”, the organization detailed how the police have targeted the poor and plant evidence, recruit paid killers, steal from the people they kill and fabricate official incident reports.
“This is a serious allegation from an international body that we should find out whether they have basis or not,” Escudero. He noted that their allegations are soiling the country’s reputation.
Escudero, former chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, said he also wanted Amnesty International to explain their findings and present their sources at the legislative inquiry.
He was alarmed by the claim that hired killers were being engaged by the police force to help in the war against drugs of the government.
The Senate investigation, he added, will give the PNP a chance to convey their side of the story.
“We want the AI to explain the basis of their report, the police officers mentioned, and whoever is willing to show evidence related to this. We have two goals: First, to prove if the allegations of AI are true and second, to allow the PNP to face the AI, and explain their side to the public,” said Escudero.
The senator assured procedural safeguards for sources of AI and all the other witnesses who will be invited to the Senate probe.
“We can always call for an executive session in order to hear the testimony of witnesses. We have done it before and we do not reveal what is discussed in the executive session except the result of our votes on sensitive topics. The Senate is ready to accept secret witnesses to assure their safety,” he added.
thadeothadeo
February 3, 2017 at 1:00 AM
The AI report that the Duterte administration has ordered and even paid some police and hired assassins to kill alleged drug suspects “ is not just serious but outright bizarre and incredible. It also defies common sense for being ridiculous. Why would the Police hire assassins to do the job when they can do it and pocket the P5000 to P10k per kill? Sabi nga ng barbero ko: :Malaking kagaguhan yan! Kung magbabayad ka ng killer, complicado pa yan, magkakaraoon ng testigo at may pipiyok pag nabuking.”
Indeed it is an insult to one’s intelligence that AI is foisting to the Filipino public as if the Filipinos are incapable of mental process. Just because this organization is recognized in the international community, it is not subject to bias and one-sided reporting? If AI wants to be have credibility and not be accused of one-sided and false narrative about EJKs in the Philippines, they should have given the specifics of the people they interviewed like names, address, and personal circumstances of the policemen and the hired killers. They did not, for one obvious reason – the story is fabricated, it is bereft of truth, it’s double hearsay, and should not be dignified by any serious reader.