PNP chief vows action against Davao City vigilantes
Agence France-Presse | 04/15/2009 7:28 PM
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The Philippine police chief Wednesday ordered his men to intensify an investigation into reports that vigilantes had killed hundreds of suspected criminals in the south over the past decade.
Jesus Verzosa, director-general of the Philippine National Police, said he had ordered the regional police chief "to gather evidence and file criminal charges against suspects involved in these killings" in the city of Davao.
"With more leads to work on and more evidence to establish a strong case, I am confident that we can achieve a major breakthrough in the investigation very soon," he said in a statement.
Verzosa also called on congressional House Speaker Prospero Nograles, who represents Davao City, to share with police the information on the vigilantes that the legislator had earlier said he had compiled.
This comes amid growing criticism of accounts that vigilantes killed about 800 suspected criminals -- including juvenile delinquents -- in Davao over the past decade, allegedly with the "tacit support" of local officials.
Many of the vigilante killings were organized by police or former policemen, the New York-based Human Rights Watch group said in a report earlier this month.
Human Rights Watch criticized the national government for failing to act on the killings, saying that the investigations were "perfunctory."
Verzosa denied the killings were "state-sponsored," adding that such accusations "were made without the benefit of hard evidence."
He stressed that the national police could only "act against suspects if it has established probable cause, legally obtained evidence, or gathered sworn affidavits from witnesses and family of victims.
"Therefore, we need the support and cooperation of the citizenry, especially those who are willing to testify in court against crime suspects," he added.
Human Rights Watch, however, said witnesses were reluctant to come forward because they feared the authorities and believed that they would not act on their complaints.
