After President Rodrigo Duterte named the 159 public officials allegedly involved in drugs, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) encouraged him to start filing cases.
CHR Chair Jose Luis “Chito” Gascon said that the president had not filed a case in court yet against the judges, mayors and police officials he named which would give them a way in defending their selves from his allegation.
Gascon stated, “The Constitution establishes a system of justice and rule of law that requires both due process and presumption of innocence guarantees, among others."
To note Gascon is also against the extra-judicial killings happening in the country, which brought sour words spoken between him and the president.
“Thus, when a crime has either been or is alleged to have been committed, law enforcement must conduct an investigation with a view to charging the accused in the proper forum so a hearing could be conducted whereby the evidence would be considered to establish either the guilt or innocence of the same,” Gascon added.
All the alleged drug coddlers who were named by Duterte, like the mayors were ordered to cancel their firearms and bodyguards, the police officials to report into their mother units and the judges to the Supreme Court for proper disposition.
Gascon reiterated that, “I stress once more that this mandate he assumes includes the duty to guarantee human rights for all."
Ifugao Representative Teddy Baguilat said that Duterte’s failure to do something after his accusation to the shamed officials, it would turn out to be a “witch-hunt” without particular end aim.
“After naming and causing them embarrassment, next is to file cases, especially when there is strong evidence. If there are no cases filed and no one among these people prosecuted and jailed, then what we had was a witch hunt. Or worse, we momentarily stopped the drug trade but left it open for a resurgence in the future,” Baguilat stressed.
Source: Inquirer