MANILA – Malacañang denied that President Rodrigo Duterte had directed the Philippine National Police (PNP) to deny the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) access to reports on the killings of human rights activists and defenders in the country.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said CHR Commissioner Leah Tanodra-Armamento’s claim that their investigation into the deaths of 89 human rights defenders had been stalled because of Duterte’s supposed intervention was not true.
“There is no truth to the alleged report that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte instructed the Philippine National Police not to release or share their information to the Commission on Human Rights regarding the recent attacks against right defenders and activists,” Roque said in a press statement.
CHR is conducting a probe into the killings of human rights defenders and members of progressive groups, which were tagged as communists by state forces and under surveillance, that happened between 2017 and 2019.
The Palace spokesperson also told the CHR that the Duterte government is “equally interested” to know the identities of people behind the “brazen” killings of the human rights defenders.
“Identifying the culprits would absolve state agents who are being blamed for the deaths of the human rights activists,” Roque said. “We will leave no stone unturned to put these people behind bars.”
“He (Duterte) wants the wheels of justice to grind, for the sake of the victims of abuse and violence and their families,” he added.
Meanwhile, the PNP also denied the allegation as they strictly comply with all procedures based on the Rules on Evidence and the Data Privacy Law mandating the protection of identities while the investigation on crime incidents is pending.
It also said that once a case is filed with the prosecutor’s office, the PNP cannot disclose any details without clearance from the assigned prosecutor./PN
