Drug war victims seek court protection amid PNP ‘double-barrel’ policy

MANILA, Philippines — Lawyers of drug war victims on Friday reiterated their call to grant protection to families and communities affected by the drug war as the Philippine National Police (PNP) policy that triggered its implementation a decade ago remains in effect.

Human rights lawyers Joel Butuyan and Gilbert Andres, both of CenterLaw Philippines, and the families of drug war victims filed before the Supreme Court a manifestation and urgent motion for resolution in the two consolidated petitions for writ of amparo that were first brought to the high tribunal in 2017.

The case covers 26 communities in Manila, whose residents had been subjected to harassment at the height of the war on drugs waged by former President Rodrigo Duterte. The lawyers refuse to identify the specific areas for security reasons.

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READ: PNP faces class suit in SC over drug killings

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The motion and manifestation wants the Supreme Court to act on the petitions and declare the unconstitutionality of PNP command memorandum circular 16-2016, more known as the “Project: Double Barrel,” which marks its 10th year in existence.

The policy, which led to thousands of killings, was signed on July 1, 2016, by then national police chief and now Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, who remains in hiding in the face of an arrest warrant in the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The lawyers pointed out that police officers may continue to use the brutal approach to combating criminality in poor communities.

“If similar incidents happen again… (the police) may still use the Double Barrel to justify their operations. So we are asking the Supreme Court to decide on this and declare it invalid and unconstitutional,” Butuyan told reporters outside the high tribunal.

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Asked whether a Supreme Court ruling in the victim’s favor would strengthen the case of Duterte in the ICC, Andres said that they are two different courts and only the Philippine high court could decide on the legality of the issuances related to the drug war.

Duterte, who is detained in the Scheveningen prison complex in The Hague, the Netherlands, is facing trial in the ICC starting Nov. 30 for his role in masterminding the drug war.

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“The families of ‘war on drugs’ EJK (extrajudicial killings) victims are left commemorating a decade of grief, loss, and unaddressed systemic violence. Despite the passage of 10 years, the constitutional and legal challenges against the ‘war on drugs’ remain unresolved and pending before the Supreme Court,” the lawyers said.n/mr

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