Jasmin Regino, CHR director for Central Luzon, said in an interview here yesterday that the 100 cases were docketed on the basis of some evidence that the victims did not actually fight back against policemen, contrary to police reports they were killed in a clash.
All the three cases of authentic “nanlaban” cases were in Bulacan, she said, noting that in these cases, relatives of the victims themselves admit witnessing clashes with cops.
“We rarely have relatives as complainant in these cases. We just pick up cases of EJKs from what comes out in the media. Then we ask the police for their reports and dig deeper into the cases to find out the truth,” Regino said.
Regino noted that while the police have claimed over 500 “nanlaban” cases in Central Luzon, the CHR has docketed only 100 cases due to limited personnel and other resources. She said that her office in the region has only eight investigators.
“What we are doing is to make sure that we have gathered enough evidences on cases so that when we forward the cases to the Department of Justice or whichever appropriate agency, the cases would already be air-tight,” she said.
She said CHR investigators are gathering more evidences on the 100 docketed cases.
Regino said that while many relatives insist that EJKs were actually rubouts, none of them have dared file formal complaints for fear of reprisal. “It seems there is always fear. Perhaps we have imbibed the culture of complacency. One can even say they just favor the anti-drugs campaign of the government, or perhaps they are simply used to the killings,” she added.
