(FLICKR / FILE PHOTO)
Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra on Thursday night, March 11, said there has been a determination that the killings fall under the jurisdiction of Administrative Order (AO) 35 that created the Inter-Agency Committee on Extra-Legal Killings, Enforced Disappearances, Torture and Other Grave Violations of the Right of Life, Liberty and Security of Persons.
“The DOJ will endorse the investigation to the AO 35 committee, as there is sufficient evidence that the victims were members of cause-oriented groups carrying out legitimate dissent,” Guevarra said.
AO 35 was issued in 2012 by then President Benigno “Noynoy” S. Aquino III.
Aside from the DOJ as lead agency, AO35 inter-agency committee is composed of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of National Defense (DND), Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Director of the National Bureau of Investigation
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra
“We’ll make our determination today (March 10) or tomorrow,” March 11, Guevarra said.
“One thing is sure though: these incidents will be investigated either by the NBI or by the AO 35 committee on EJKs,” he assured.
He has ordered the NBI to determine if the incidents will fall under the investigative jurisdiction of the Administrative Order (AO) 35 Inter-Agency Committee on Extra-Legal Killings, Enforced Disappearances, Torture and Other Grave Violations of the Right of Life, Liberty and Security of Persons. The committee is headed by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Last Sunday, the PNP and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) conducted joint operations in serving search warrants at the offices or houses of persons who were suspected to have links to communist groups in Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Batangas.
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Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra on Monday, March 8, expressed disappointment on the military and police operations in Southern Luzon last Sunday, March 7, that resulted in the deaths of nine persons and the arrest of six other individuals.
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