‘KILL KILL KILL’ (6)

MAHIRAP lumusot si Bato dela Rosa sa sakdal na crmes against humanity na isinampa sa kanya sa International Criminal Court. Pirmado ni Bato ang Command Memorandum Circular 1 na nagtakda sa PNP bilang pangunahing ahensya ng gobyerno na nagpatupad ng madugo pero bigong giyera kontra droga ni Gongdi. Tinalakay ko ito sa aking unang aklat – “KILL KILL KILL Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines; Crimes Against Humanity v. Rodrigo Duterte Et. Al.”

‘PROJECT DOUBLE BARREL’: THE LEGALIZATION OF EJKS
DUTERTE’S war on drugs officially started on July 1, 2016, or the day after Duterte was sworn in as president. Gen. Ronald dela Rosa, whom Duterte named director-general of the Philippine National Police (PNP), issued Command Memorandum Circular 16-2016 (or CMC), which specified the general guidelines, procedures, and tasks of police offices, units, and stations in the conduct of the anti-illegal drugs campaign plan under the “Project Double Barrel.” This was an elaborate project brandished by the PNP leadership as supportive of “the barangay clearing strategy of the government and the neutralization of illegal drug personalities nationwide.” It immediately went full swing.

In the statement of its purpose, the CMC used the word “neutralization” of the people engaged in drug trade as its main objective. This is noticeable because, in police parlance, “neutralization” means killing or, at the very least, maiming social offenders. The CMC gave a view of the national situation. It said:

”According to the DDB’s 2015 National Household Survey, there were around 1.8 million drug users in the country [where] 38.36% of which are unemployed. As of February 2016, PDEA reported that 26.91% or 11,321 out of the country’s 42,065 barangays were ‘drug affected’ (mostly in urban areas), A barangay is said to be drug-affected when there is a proven existence of drug user, pusher, manufacturer, marijuana cultivator or other drug personalities regardless of number in the area. On record, NCR has the highest rate of affectation with 92.96% of the region’s barangays, followed by CALABARZON at 49.28%. Based on PDEA’s 2015 arrest data, methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu (90%) reportedly tops the list of most abused illegal drugs, followed by marijuana and costly party drugs like cocaine and ecstasy.

“The afore-cited statistical data is indicative of the worsening drug problem that has victimized mostly the underprivileged and impoverished sector of the society. Although much has already been done and accomplished in the national campaign to eradicate illegal drugs, yet the problem persists and it continues to breed social ills. Apparently, in the quest to go after high level drug traffickers, the government seems to have overlooked the worsening drug problem at the grassroots level. The archipelagic set-up of the Philippines is exploited by traffickers to transport illegal drugs and controlled precursors and essential chemicals into the country. The international and local airports and seaports, mail and parcel services and the vast expanse of coastline are being utilized as entry and exit points.

“There are three transnational drug organizations operating in the Philippines, namely: a. The Chinese or Filipino-Chinese drug syndicates dominate the drug market in the country. They facilitate production, manufacturing and bulk smuggling of dangerous drugs in the country. These activities ensure the supply of drugs in the market. Their activities are largely concentrated within their group, with the inclusion of very few and well-selected locals; b. The African Drug Syndicate (ADS) is responsible for smuggling drugs through the airports using drug couriers/swallowers; and c. The Mexican-Sinaloa Drug Cartel is a new drug group operating in the Philippines. They associated with the Chinese drug Group to penetrate the Philippine market.”

Saying the CMC would be launched and implemented on the first day of office of Ronald dela Rosa as the PNP chief, all police offices and units were enjoined to conduct massive and simultaneous operations to generate impact and public support. Project Double Barrel has two components: “Project Tokhang” and “Project High Value Targets.” Project Tokhang is the lower barrel approach, which is launched in all drug-affected barangays nationwide in coordination with the local government units (LGUs) particularly in their anti-drug abuse councils (ADACs), nongovernment organizations (NG0s), stakeholders, and other law enforcement agencies. The Project Tokhang is described as “a practical and realistic means of accelerating the drive against illegal drugs in affected barangays. This concept involves the conduct of house to house visitations to persuade suspected illegal drug personalities to stop their illegal drug activities.”

Project Tokhang has five stages: first stage, collection and validation of information; second stage, coordination; third stage, house to house visitation; fourth stage, processing and documentation; and fifth stage, the monitoring and evaluation. The CMC said: “The collection and validation of information would be conducted in the first week of the first month of the President’s term. All local police offices, units, stations and anti-illegal drugs units shall conduct validation to acquire specific information on suspected drug users and pushers in every affected barangays. The identity and criminal activities of each target must be properly documented and verified with all possible sources to equip the team with accurate and solid proofs when confronting suspects during house to house visitations.” How the collection and validation of information went on Duterte’s first week of the first month of his presidential term of office went was not known. There was no report whatsoever. The CMC said:

“THE coordination shall be made with the following government agencies, stakeholders, and non-government organizations prior to the conduct of actual house to house visitations to ensure success of the activity. All concerned local police offices, units, and stations would coordinate with the LGUs to provide support for the activity and ensure compliance of subordinate offices. The house to house visitation stage of suspected drug personalities would highlight Project Tokhang. The processing and documentation stage has the following components: first, all suspected drug personalities who shall voluntarily surrender shall be required to fill-out a voluntary surrender form; second, persons, who voluntarily surrendered shall be urged to subscribe under oath before a notary public, to be assisted by a counsel and witnessed by parents/guardians and/or barangay officials; all suspected drug personalities who shall voluntarily surrender themselves to the visiting team shall be referred/invited to the local police station for interview, documentation, and other alternative actions. Provided that they execute undertakings to cooperate by giving voluntary information regarding illegal drug activities; all suspected drug personalities who shall surrender any dangerous drugs or its derivatives and drug paraphernalia shall be processed accordingly. Provided that they execute undertakings to give voluntary information about any violations of specific provisions of RA 9165 as stated under Section 33.”

The CMC has provisions calling for what the PNP termed “internal cleansing,” which calls for “the arrest and prosecution of PNP personnel, [who, through the conduct of counter-intelligence operations, are found out] engaged in unlawful activities such as, but not limited to, illegal arrest, illegal detention, hulidap, bangketa/areglo” or case fixing, recycling of confiscated drugs, and planting of evidence, bungling of drug cases, or acting as protectors, coddlers, and financiers of drug personalities. It includes the continuous drug testing of all PNP personnel and filing of appropriate charges against those who would be found positive to ensure drug-free workplaces in all PNP Offices and further improve the image and credibility of the police in the anti-drug campaign. The CMC said the PNP Internal Cleansing would at the national level be under the “functional supervision and authority” of the PNP director for intelligence. (Itutuloy)