Rights chief decries quick fixes over justice in drug killings

MANILA, Philippines  — President Rodrigo Duterte's vision of law and order creates an environment of shortcuts that skirt the law, rather than one that upholds rule of law, Commission on Human Rights Chair Chito Gascon said.

Gascon said on Friday, the eve of International Human Rights Day, that security forces' lack of respect for standards of justice has not happened since martial law days until today.

"For the most part, the great majority of our security forces, the police and our soldiers, have over the last 30 years since the restoration of democracy been respectful of established norms and when there are perpetrators, they don't cover up for them," Gascon said in an interview on CNN Philippines' "The Source."

Gascon said Duterte's presidency and iron-fisted approach appears to have given a carte blance to authorities to do whatever they want.

He said there seems to be violations of the police operations manual, which sets a "use of force continuum" guiding officers' use of deadly weapons, that heighten the risk of deaths in security efforts.

"The facts show that since Mr. Duterte became president, the deaths arising from police operations have risen dramatically," Gascon said.

Lack of cases against 'nanlaban' excuse

He said the police's usual excuse for having killed a drug suspect is that they fought back, or "nanlaban" in Filipino, is something courts should determine. But investigations and cases filed against erring police officers behind the more than 2,000 deaths in anti-narcotics operations remain scant.

"Now I'm not saying that they are not entitled to defend themselves and defend the communities. Certainly, 'nanlaban,' if proven, is a justifiable circumstance. But in every single case, 'nanlaban' and then we're receiving comments that there are actually alternative stories to some of these cases," he said.

Gascon is referring to various reports and informal testimonies of eye witnesses that some suspects gunned down in police operations did not even wield weapons. He said these cases already present a probable cause and should be filed by the Department of Justice.

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"Probable cause is a determination that the crime was committed and the one who is suspected of having committed the crime is the person being investigated," Gascon explained.

"There is this self-defense argument but that is not a matter for administrative proceedings to determine. You don't wash your hands and say, 'Okay he's clear.' The charges must be filed, evidence must be presented in the courts, and the courts will have to determine, 'is nanlaban in this specific case a justifiable circumstance?" he added.

 Gascon was the youngest member of the commission that framed the 1987 Constitution following abuses under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.