Palace: Duterte won’t tolerate police abuse after ‘Negros 14’ incident
Credit to Author: jvicente| Date: Tue, 09 Apr 2019 04:00:23 +0000
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte would not tolerate police abuse, Malacañang said Tuesday, following the killing of 14 farmers in two towns and a city in Negros Oriental province during a series of joint anti-crime operations on March 3.
“Duterte will not tolerate police abuse,” Presidential Spokesperson Salavador Panelo said in a text message.
The Philippine National Police has claimed that that victims fought back during the search of their houses for illegal weapons but human rights and farmers’ organizations in Visayas said the farmers were summarily executed.
READ: 14 Negros farmers summarily executed – fact-finding teams
“The presumption of regularity applies on the police action. The families can always file criminal charges against them,” Panelo said.
“The families should file charges, that’s the best they can do, and we will let the law take its course,” he added. /jpv