THERE are no extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in the country, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Oscar Albayalde reiterated on Friday, October 12.

But his predecessor, Ronald dela Rosa, said the occurrence of EJKs can no longer be denied.

“Galit na galit ako diyan. Hindi dapat gawin ‘yan. Walang bayag ang gumagawa niyan as I have said. Mga talawan. Mga duwag. Dapat ayusin nila yung trabaho nila,” he said.

(I am enraged. That should not happen. Those who commit EJKs have no balls. They are cowards. They should do their job properly.)

“Hindi ko dine-deny. Meron tayong mga nahuli, ‘di ba? ‘Yung mga pulis na ‘yung pumatay kay Kian sa Caloocan. Pulis ang gumawa non. ‘Yung pumatay sa Koreano na si Jee Ick Joo, pulis ‘yun,” he added.

(I don't deny. We caught some people - the policemen who killed Kian in Caloocan and those who killed Jee Ick Joo. Police officers did those.)

Albayalde and De la Rosa were reacting to the claim of Human Rights Watch (HRW) that no police officer has been held accountable for the EJKs involving suspected drug personalities under President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody war on drugs.

“Hindi po natin alam. Of course wala naman po tayong sinasabi na EJK. Not even the CHR (Commission on Human Rights) have said na wala silang napatunayan na nagkaroon ng EJK dito sa bansa,” Albayalde said.

Albayalde said 672 police personnel have been charged administratively since 2016 for human rights violations while a total of 7,431 cops have been meted disciplinary penalties for administrative offenses.

Jee’s killing, which was allegedly perpetrated by police officers from the defunct Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF) in 2016 inside the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, prompted Duterte to remove the PNP from the agencies that implement the war on drugs.

Dela Rosa carried out a major revamp in the organization following Jee’s killing and dismantled the AIDSOTF, the lead unit on the war on drugs, and created the PNP Counter-Intelligence Task Force to go against erring officers.

Duterte, however, ordered the PNP to again join the war on drugs several months later.

But in August 2017, several policemen were tagged in the killing of teenagers Kian Delos Santos and Carl Angelo Arnaiz in Caloocan City.

On August 16, Delos Santos was killed during an anti-illegal drugs operation conducted by Caloocan police assigned at the Police Community Precinct 2 in Barangay 160.

On August 18, Karl Angelo Arnaiz was killed by Police Officers 1 Jeffrey Perez and Ricky Arquilita of the Caloocan Police Security Precinct 7 after an alleged robbery attempt. (SunStar Philippines)