CHR, Ombudsman can probe Parojinog’s case: Palace official

July 31, 2017

The Commission on Human Rights and the Office of the Ombudsman can investigate on their own the raids by the police in Ozamiz City on Sunday resulting in the death of 15 people, including Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, a Palace official said on Monday. Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra said President Rodrigo Duterte's statement recently the two agencies need to inform him first of any probe they would conduct against the police and the military was made as a commander-in-chief and not as a chief executive. "The Commission on Human Rights and the Office of the Ombudsman are both created under the Constitution and they are supposed to be independent. They have to do their own mandates," he said in a press briefing. "When the President said that he’d be informed if any soldier or law enforcer will be undergoing any investigation, I presume he was speaking as Commander-in-Chief and not as chief executive. In other words, it’s just a matter of saying as 'Commander-in-Chief, since you will be investigating a law enforcer or a soldier or an officer under my command, it would be a lot better if you let me know about this investigation'," he added. Guevarra said Duterte knew what he was saying being a prosecutor prior to becoming the mayor of Davao City and then president. "He knows criminal law, criminal procedure very well, and he knows the limits of what he can do and what he can’t," he added. The CHR is planning to investigate the bloody raids last Sunday in Ozamiz, news reports said. Parojinog’s daughter, Vice Mayor Nova Echavez, who was arrested during the raid, called for an investigation of the incident. Malacanang has said the raid in Ozamiz was part of the government's intensified campaign against illegal drugs. Duterte earlier tagged the Parojinogs as "narco politicians." (Celerina Monte/DMS)