Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa pushed back strongly against Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla’s claim that no police reports exist for alleged wrongful deaths during the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
“That’s a blatant lie,” Dela Rosa said during Thursday’s Senate committee on foreign relations hearing, which continues to probe former President Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest and ICC detention.
“It’s not true that police failed to document these incidents. Do you think our cops were just sleeping on the job? All crime incidents were recorded,” he insisted.
Remulla previously told senators during the March 20 hearing that investigations, including findings from forensic expert Dr. Raquel Fortun, uncovered troubling inconsistencies. He cited death certificates that listed cardiac arrest as the cause of death, even when autopsies showed bullet wounds to the head.
He added, “About 95% of these alleged wrongful death cases had no police reports on file.”
Dela Rosa, who served as PNP chief during the height of Duterte’s anti-drug campaign, stood by the integrity of police records. He claimed he had instructed the police to compile complete documentation for each drug-related death.
“There were spot reports, progress reports, development reports—all the way to the filing of cases with the DOJ. We made sure every case had a file,” Dela Rosa said.
While official police reports put the number of drug war deaths at around 6,000, human rights organizations estimate the real figure to be as high as 30,000, including alleged vigilante killings.
Duterte remains in detention at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where he faces charges of crimes against humanity linked to his controversial drug war.