President Rodrigo Duterte’s guarantee of zero retribution for those who carry out his brutal crackdown on illegal drugs is the main driving force behind the spike in deaths under investigation or what his critics call extrajudicial killings.

Commission on Human Rights Chair Jose Luis Martin “Chito” Gascon said the enabling and tolerant attitude of the President and police officials was a more compelling motivation for the surge in body count than reports of monetary rewards and quota requirements for the police.

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“Am not prepared to say that monetary rewards are the most compelling, as possibly signals from superiors and guarantees that perpetrators will not be held accountable could also be sufficient inducements for some to cross the line of established protocols and ignore the requirements of due process,” said Gascon in a text message.

There have been 5,500 reported drug-related deaths since President Duterte took office of which 2,000 were killed in police operations while 3,500 deaths were listed as being under investigation.

Gascon said repeatedly telling the police force that they would not be punished for doing their job has emboldened them to break the rules just to get the job done as exhorted by their bosses.

He cited President Duterte’s recent declaration that he would not allow Supt. Marvin Wynn Marco and his team from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Region 8 to go to jail even after the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) had found enough evidence to charge them for the killing of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa and fellow inmate Raul Yap inside their subprovincial jail last month. Marcos claimed it was a shootout but the NBI investigation showed it was a rubout.

“This is why it is important for independent investigation bodies—such as NBI, Ombudsman, CHR and Special Rapporteurs to document facts to hold them to account,” said Gascon.

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