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BY PRINCE GOLEZ
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MANILA – Detained senator Leila de Lima asked Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II for a breakdown of the 219 “verified” cases of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) the Justice department disclosed in March.
She claimed that Aguirre issued a directive not to charge police officers enforcing the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.
But the Justice secretary denied the senator’s “perjurious” statement, saying that such directive is “illegal.”
According to de Lima, she wants to know how many of these EJK cases involved small-time or poor drug pushers and users.
The EJK data “apparently refer to cases covered by the mandate of the AO (Administrative Order No.) 35 Interagency Committee on Extralegal Killings, Enforced Disappearances, Torture and Other Grave Violations of the Right to Life, Liberty and Security of Persons,” she said.
De Lima reminded Aguirre that AO No. 35 pertained to the killings of militants/activists and members of progressive and cause-oriented groups, and not to the “current species” of EJKs targeting drug suspects.
“I should know because I was the one who drafted AO 35 and recommended the same to the then president (Benigno Aquino III), who signed and issued the same,” said de Lima, a former Justice secretary. “Mukhang nanloloko na naman kayo. Stop misleading or fooling the people, please.”/PN
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