Malacañang on Wednesday, October 16, expressed its support for the possible reopening of investigations into the high-profile killings linked to the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
In a Viber message to Palace reporters, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said the Palace is open to revisiting cases related to the bloody campaign that former President Rodrigo Duterte implemented from 2016 to 2022.
The Philippine National Police announced plans earlier this week to reopen investigations into several unsolved cases involving local officials who were killed during the Duterte administration’s drug war.
“Of course. The reopening of the investigations of the high killings related to the war on drugs should indicate that the Marcos administration places the highest importance on the fair dispensation of justice and on the universal observance of the rule of law in the country,” Bersamin said when asked if Malacañang backs such reinvestigation.
In a press briefing on Tuesday, October 15, PNP Spokesperson Brigadier General Jean Fajardo said authorities plan to revisit old, unsolved cases, including those of 20 public officials allegedly killed in connection to the war on drugs.
Among them is the 2018 assassination of Tanauan City, Batangas Mayor Antonio Halili, with a police officer implicated as a suspect.
Other cases include the 2016 killing of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa, who was shot multiple times while allegedly resisting a search warrant in his jail cell.
Another is the 2017 police raid that resulted in the death of Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, along with his wife and two siblings. His brother, Ricardo Parojinog, was later killed in a detention facility. (TCSP)
