MANILA, Philippines — Relatives of drug war victims asked the Supreme Court (SC) anew to declare as unconstitutional the Philippine National Police’s “Project Double Barrel,” which unleashed “Oplan Tokhang” at the barangay level during the Duterte administration, in hopes that the controversial policy will never be enforced again.
Four women, who represent drug war victims’ next of kin, filed their nine-page manifestation and urgent motion for resolution before the high court yesterday, in a follow-up on two petitions for a writ of amparo submitted in October 2017.
The petitioners were represented by lawyers Gilbert Andres and Joel Butuyan, who also serve as counsels for the victims in the crimes against humanity case against detained former president Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court.
In their manifestation, the petitioners for the two consolidated cases pointed out that the SC “has not yet resolved the constitutional and legal challenges against Philippine National Police Command Memorandum Circular No. 16-2016, as amended by Command Memorandum Circular No. 01-2017, and Department of the Interior and Local Government Memorandum Circular No. 2017-112.”
The 2016 order referred to the “Project Double Barrel,” which also enabled “Project HVT” that supposedly targeted drug syndicates and drug lords.
They noted the policies “have not been amended, modified, revoked or suspended” and “can still be used by police officers as sources of dubious rules for their operations and invoke them as basis of legal defense in the event of fatality occurrences reminiscent of the drug war years.”
The petitioners argued the orders violate the constitutional mandate of the fundamental rights to life, liberty and security.
They also reiterated their request for protection through a writ of amparo, “given the rise of systematic disinformation, ‘fake’ news, propaganda and other forms of harassment against the families and communities of the murdered ‘war on drugs’ victims, especially brought about by the prosecution of former president Rodrigo R. Duterte before the International Criminal Court.”