The Philippines will look into thousands of killings in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, its justice minister said on Wednesday after a review of a sample of cases indicated foul play in dozens of deadly police operations.
Menardo Guevarra said the Department of Justice (DOJ) would expand its review to include the more than 6,000 killings during police operations, after which many officers were cleared of wrongdoing in internal police investigations.
“Time and resources permitting, the DOJ will review these thousands of other cases too,” Guevarra told Reuters.
The decision indicates a shift from the Philippines’ vehement defence of the drugs war, which has seen the government scold critics and activists who alleged there were systematic executions of drug suspects by police.