HRW: List of barangay execs with drug links a virtual ‘hit list’

photo grabbed from Human Right Watch (HRW) official website

The Duterte administration would put hundreds of people’s lives in danger once it releases the names of barangay (village) officials allegedly involved in illegal drugs, a human rights group warned Friday.

New York-based watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) said releasing the names would violate due process and would only worsen the bloodshed in President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-illegal drug campaign.

“The Duterte administration will be putting hundreds of people in danger if it released the names of barangay (village) officials it accuses of involvement in the illegal drugs trade,” HRW Asia Division researcher Carlos Conde said in a statement.

“This virtual hit list, like the ‘terror list’ of hundreds of activists and alleged insurgents compiled recently by the Department of Justice, violates due process and is an affront to the rule of law,” he added.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said it would soon release the names of more than 200 barangay (village) executives involved in illegal drugs as the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections draw near.

Conde said that if it has evidence against the officials, the government should charge them formally in court.

“Far too many cases of those people who end up on lists of suspected drug personalities have ended up as victims of summary executions, as we’ve seen in Duterte’s ‘drug war’ in the past 21 months,” Conde said.

“Releasing the hit list of these barangay officials ahead of the election next month – without solid proof or evidence, as the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency itself admitted—is almost certain to worsen the bloodshed,” he added.

The Philippine National Police (PNP), however, said that releasing the list would not incite a witch hunt against the individuals but rather help the voters choose their candidates in the upcoming elections.

“Ang purpose lang naman na nakikita ko dun sa pag-release ng names, as suggested by so many people is for the people who will be voting this coming elections, to know who are those involved in illegal drugs,” PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. John Bulalacao said.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, in a briefing Thursday, said government would release the list to the public despite criticisms, noting that the list was the judgement call of President Duterte.

“The President has already ordered the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to disclose the names of barangay officials included in its list of all those allegedly involved in the illegal drugs trade,” Roque said.