The killings continue. Congress should now stop its investigations and
proceed with the work of drafting and eventually enacting the law that
will serve as a deterrent to to extrajudicial killings. Among others,
said law hopefully should include the relevant provisions of the
Philippine National Police Operational Procedures and these norms of
conduct and procedures proposed by the Honorable Supreme Court in the
case of Hildawa vs. Minister of Defense (G.R. No. L-67766 August 14, 1985):
1. Police superiors are directed to exercise strict supervision and control over law enforcers ordered to make arrests, that they should not use unnecessary force and should comply strictly with the law, and accord to the suspects all their constitutional rights;
2. Whenever there is killing or infliction of injury, those responsible are hereby enjoined to immediately report the matter to their superior officers and the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) for investigation and appropriate action;
3. The National Police Commission as the entity charged with direct authority over the members of the Integrated National Police (now the PNP) should forthwith "investigate to find out who the assailant was and the reason for the death of the victim. It need not wait for a formal complaint to be lodged by the relatives of the deceased;"
4. Once the Identity of the killer(s) has been established and the latter having admitted that he is the author of the death of the deceased, the investigating officer should file a case in the proper court or tribunal which will determine whether or not the killing was made in self-defense, defense of relatives, defense of stranger or in the fulfillment of a duty," bearing in mind that "when a person is killed by another, the burden of proving self-defense or some other justification lies on the assailant. This is precisely what is needed: an automatic investigation of all killings which result either from police operations or are perpetrated by unknown hitmen. Most sadly, it is most unclear if there is an automatic investigation being conducted in these cases. The only way to deter or prevent extrajudicial killings is to make everyone aware that an investigation will automatically be conducted if killings result from police operations or are perpetrated by unknown hitmen, whether or not there are complainants. In the very first place, that a killing is extrajudicial is a conclusion that is arrived at only after an investigation. Every such killings thus should automatically be deemed as Deaths Under Investigation (DUI) and should automatically be investigated.
1. Police superiors are directed to exercise strict supervision and control over law enforcers ordered to make arrests, that they should not use unnecessary force and should comply strictly with the law, and accord to the suspects all their constitutional rights;
2. Whenever there is killing or infliction of injury, those responsible are hereby enjoined to immediately report the matter to their superior officers and the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) for investigation and appropriate action;
3. The National Police Commission as the entity charged with direct authority over the members of the Integrated National Police (now the PNP) should forthwith "investigate to find out who the assailant was and the reason for the death of the victim. It need not wait for a formal complaint to be lodged by the relatives of the deceased;"
4. Once the Identity of the killer(s) has been established and the latter having admitted that he is the author of the death of the deceased, the investigating officer should file a case in the proper court or tribunal which will determine whether or not the killing was made in self-defense, defense of relatives, defense of stranger or in the fulfillment of a duty," bearing in mind that "when a person is killed by another, the burden of proving self-defense or some other justification lies on the assailant. This is precisely what is needed: an automatic investigation of all killings which result either from police operations or are perpetrated by unknown hitmen. Most sadly, it is most unclear if there is an automatic investigation being conducted in these cases. The only way to deter or prevent extrajudicial killings is to make everyone aware that an investigation will automatically be conducted if killings result from police operations or are perpetrated by unknown hitmen, whether or not there are complainants. In the very first place, that a killing is extrajudicial is a conclusion that is arrived at only after an investigation. Every such killings thus should automatically be deemed as Deaths Under Investigation (DUI) and should automatically be investigated.
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