{"id":11703,"date":"2025-07-15T00:55:56","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T23:55:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/?p=11703"},"modified":"2025-07-14T15:11:46","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T14:11:46","slug":"limited-cooperation-of-pnp-with-chr-hampers-investigations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/limited-cooperation-of-pnp-with-chr-hampers-investigations\/","title":{"rendered":"Limited cooperation of PNP with CHR hampers investigations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Three years into President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.\u2019s administration, tensions <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rappler.com\/philippines\/police-not-cooperating-commission-human-rights-drug-war-probe\/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">persist<\/a> between the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) over investigating extrajudicial killings (EJKs) linked to Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s so-called \u201cwar on drugs.\u201d Despite the CHR independently probing over 4,000 cases, obstacles such as denied access to evidence and uncooperative police units continue to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rappler.com\/philippines\/police-not-cooperating-commission-human-rights-drug-war-probe\/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hamper<\/a> progress.<\/p>\n<p>CHR Chairperson Richard Palpal-Latoc <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rappler.com\/philippines\/police-not-cooperating-commission-human-rights-drug-war-probe\/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">noted<\/a> that difficulties in accessing vital police records persist, even though the PNP claims to have issued orders for cooperation. \u201cNon-compliance remains a significant hurdle,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rappler.com\/philippines\/police-not-cooperating-commission-human-rights-drug-war-probe\/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">added<\/a>. Likewise, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abs-cbn.com\/news\/nation\/2025\/6\/9\/chr-investigation-on-ejk-deaths-still-ongoing-due-to-lack-of-pnp-cooperation-2104?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">encounters<\/a> similar issues, including uncooperative witnesses, lost evidence, and an atmosphere of fear that complicates the successful resolution of cases.<\/p>\n<p>Only a fraction of drug war-related cases forwarded to the Department of Justice (DOJ) have resulted in filings, with only four <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abs-cbn.com\/news\/nation\/2025\/6\/9\/chr-investigation-on-ejk-deaths-still-ongoing-due-to-lack-of-pnp-cooperation-2104?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">convictions<\/a> of police officers to date.<\/p>\n<p>While the PNP claims it has ordered units to cooperate, Palpal-latoc <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abs-cbn.com\/news\/nation\/2025\/6\/9\/chr-investigation-on-ejk-deaths-still-ongoing-due-to-lack-of-pnp-cooperation-2104?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> the CHR is still being denied key evidence. The CHR has not forwarded any cases to the DOJ because none of the investigations are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abs-cbn.com\/news\/nation\/2025\/6\/9\/chr-investigation-on-ejk-deaths-still-ongoing-due-to-lack-of-pnp-cooperation-2104?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">complete<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>PNP Chief Police General Nicolas Torre III <a href=\"https:\/\/iloilo.bomboradyo.com\/pnp-chief-torre-makes-historic-courtesy-visit-to-commission-on-human-rights\/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">made<\/a> his first official visit to the CHR on June 9, 2025, marking the first time a PNP Chief has visited the agency.<\/p>\n<p>Torre <a href=\"https:\/\/iloilo.bomboradyo.com\/pnp-chief-torre-makes-historic-courtesy-visit-to-commission-on-human-rights\/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">promised<\/a> transparency and a commitment to responsible policing, assuring that lethal force would only be used as a last resort. Nonetheless, human rights advocates remain <a href=\"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/human-rights-groups-warn-against-marcos-jr-s-new-approach-to-police-anti-drug-policy\/\">cautious<\/a>, wary of new performance metrics requiring officers to submit affidavits of arrest to qualify for promotions &#8211; measures they fear could encourage abuses reminiscent of the former Duterte era.<\/p>\n<p>According to the documentation of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DLosR97TJug\/?img_index=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dahas<\/a> project of the University of the Philippines, there have been 1009 drug-related killings under Marcos Jr. so far (as of June 30, 2025).<\/p>\n<p>The PNP has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.philstar.com\/headlines\/2025\/06\/09\/2449203\/pnp-work-chr-ensure-lawful-arrests?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announced<\/a> a partnership with the CHR to safeguard civil liberties during police operations. According to PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo, the initiative is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.philstar.com\/headlines\/2025\/06\/09\/2449203\/pnp-work-chr-ensure-lawful-arrests\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">intended<\/a> to dispel concerns about a tense relationship between the two agencies. As part of the collaboration, the CHR will be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.philstar.com\/headlines\/2025\/06\/09\/2449203\/pnp-work-chr-ensure-lawful-arrests\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">invited<\/a> to observe police arrests to help monitor potential human rights violations. Fajardo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.philstar.com\/headlines\/2025\/06\/09\/2449203\/pnp-work-chr-ensure-lawful-arrests\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> the PNP aims to improve its public image, prevent accusations of vigilantism and EJKs, and restore public trust.<\/p>\n<p>Lawmakers are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abs-cbn.com\/news\/nation\/2025\/6\/9\/chr-investigation-on-ejk-deaths-still-ongoing-due-to-lack-of-pnp-cooperation-2104?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pushing<\/a> to strengthen the CHR through amendments to its charter, although these reforms still await Senate action.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three years into President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.\u2019s administration, tensions persist between the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) over investigating extrajudicial killings (EJKs) linked to Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s so-called \u201cwar on drugs.\u201d Despite the CHR independently probing over 4,000 cases, obstacles such as denied access to evidence and uncooperative police units [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":7015,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[64,73,58,59,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-war-on-drugs-en","category-aktuelles-en","category-human-rights-news","category-internal-affairs","category-news-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11703"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11831,"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11703\/revisions\/11831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amp.ngo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}