Daily Express Subscriber
Sign in to your account.

MANILA: At least 30 police officers implicated in Bloody Sunday killings are still undergoing probe by prosecutors, the Department of Justice said on Monday.

According to Justice Undersecretary Brigido Dulay, the law enforcement agents were charged with murder in the killings of labour leader Manny Asuncion and fisherfolk leaders Chai Lemita-Evangelista and Ariel Evangelista.

“There are other victims supposedly involved dun sa (in the) ‘Bloody Sunday’ but their cases are still pending investigation by our special investigation team. We are waiting for final resolution of those cases whether appropriate complaints will be filed,” Dulay told ANC’s “Rundown”.

Some of the incidents were “deemed” not related to AO 35 Special Investigation Team, Dulay said. The AO 35 inter-agency task force is meant to probe extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and other grave human rights violations involving activists and rights defenders.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla earlier said the agency was having difficulty in getting witnesses in the “Bloody Sunday” killings.

On March 7, 2021, the police and military implemented 24 search warrants in Calabarzon that left 9 activists dead and arrested 4 others.

Activist groups have questioned the killings and contested the issuance of the search warrant against activists who were killed in simultaneous dawn raids. Dulay explained the case involved several incidents.

“Our only problem is because, based on my review of the case, the site of the crimes are in different locations. These did not have a common location,” he said.

 “So, that is what is complicating it because you can’t just put this under one panel. You have to have different panels because these are treated as separate cases,” he added.

Dulay also said Remulla’s remark also pertained to other cases related to AO 35.

“What we want to say is that we will file the cases as soon as we get the evidence. Right now, we are having difficulty getting evidence because the witnesses are not there,” he said.