MANILA – Malacañang on Wednesday said it will abide with the Supreme Court’s ruling for the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to furnish petitioners’ copies of thousands of police documents in relation to the governent’s war on drugs.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said that they respect the High Court’s verdict but expressed hope the decision would be reversed once Solicitor General Jose Calida files a motion for reconsideration.
“We always follow the rule of law,” Panelo said. “The Supreme Court has spoken. Unless it reverses itself upon a motion for reconsideration by the Solicitor General, obedience to its ruling should come as a matter of course.”
In a verdict released last Tuesday the SC granted the motions filed by the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) and the Center for International Law (CenterLaw), which sought to compel Calida to release withheld “tokhang” documents.
The SC in December 2017 required Calida to submit full documentation of around 3,000 deaths, which the government claims were from the legitimate anti drug operations conducted by the police.
Calida, however, refused to follow the SC’s order, saying the documents involve sensitive information that has national security implications but he later complied with the order.
The administration’s war on drugs was one of the campaign promises of President Rodrigo Duterte. He earlier promised to eradicate the problem in three to six months but changed it until 2022 due to the country’s widespread problem on illegal drugs.
Based on the records of the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the administration’s war on drugs already claimed 5,176 lives from July 1, 2016 to Jan. 31, 2019./PN
