THE Department of Justice (DOJ) said the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has submitted a total of 107 of its anti-drug operation cases where deaths occurred for review by a panel headed by the justice department.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said these cases are on top of the 53 case files that the DOJ-led review panel were given access to by the Philippine National Police Internal Affairs Service (PNP-IAS).
These cases involve findings by the PNP-IAS of administrative liabilities on the conduct of police officers in anti-drug operations.
He explained that the PDEA shared their case records with the DOJ because it is part of the original review panel and that they have been engaged with in anti-illegal drug operations.
The other members of the inter-agency panel are the Departments of Foreign Affairs and the Interior and Local Government, National Bureau of Investigation, PDEA, Dangerous Drugs Board, Presidential Management Staff, Presidential Communications Operation Office and the
Presidential Human Rights Committee Secretariat.
However, DOJ Undersecretary Adrian Ferdinand Sugay said they are yet to go over the cases since they received them only recently.
“We are still going through PDEA’s records. As soon as we have a more or less definitive assessment, we will advise you [the media],” Sugay said.
“There were casualties [in the cases submitted by the PDEA]. And this is the reason for the review,” the DOJ official added.
The PDEA case files covers the period between July 2016 and June 2020.
Guevarra has said the panel intends to review a total of 5,655 anti-illegal drugs operations where deaths occurred.
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