Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa strongly criticized Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla on Thursday for claiming that there were no police records in cases of alleged wrongful deaths during the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
Dela Rosa, who previously served as the Philippine National Police (PNP) chief and led the anti-drug campaign, rejected Remulla’s assertion during the ongoing Senate committee on foreign relations hearing regarding former President Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest.
“Diretsahang sagutin ko ‘yan—that’s a blatant lie, ‘yung sinabi ni Secretary Remulla. Talagang kasinungalingan ‘yan,” he stated.
(Let me answer that directly—what Secretary Remulla said is a blatant lie. That’s really a lie.)
He refuted claims that there were no records of drug war-related deaths, questioning whether police officers had simply failed to document incidents.
“Hindi po totoo ‘yun na walang record. Ano natutulog ang pulis natin? Hindi nire-record? Hindi bina-blotter ang mga crime incidents na ‘yan? Hindi totoo ‘yan,” he added.
(It’s not true that there are no records. Do you think our police were just sleeping, not recording, not putting those crime incidents on the blotter? That’s not true.)
Dela Rosa’s remarks were in response to Remulla’s statement from the initial hearing on March 20, where he asserted that investigations found no official police reports on the individuals who died during the anti-drug operations.
The Justice Secretary cited forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun, who uncovered inconsistencies in death certificates of victims.
“When she investigated the wrongful death situation, the death certificate indicated cardiac arrest as the cause of death. But in the autopsy, there were bullet holes in the head,” Remulla stated.
He further claimed that “95% had no police reports” when reviewing cases of alleged wrongful deaths.
Dela Rosa countered this, saying that during his tenure as PNP chief, he ensured that proper documentation was maintained to defend law enforcement in case the drug war was scrutinized.
“Siguraduhin ninyo na every death na related sa war on drugs, meron tayong case folder niyan. Naka-file ‘yan lahat do’n, starting from the spot report to the progress reports, development reports, hanggang doon sa pag-file ng kaso sa DOJ. Meron tayo niyan,” he explained.
(I told the police to make sure that every death related to the war on drugs has a case folder. It’s all filed there, starting from the spot report, to the progress reports, to development reports, to when the case was filed with the DOJ. We have all of that.)
Meanwhile, Duterte remains in detention at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, where he faces charges of crimes against humanity for his controversial drug war.
