WHEN the issue of extrajudicial killings (EJK) in the Philippines is mentioned, the time frame involved was limited between July 2016 and May 2022, during the term of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) showed that 6,252 individuals had been killed in Duterte’s anti-drug campaign during this time. It said there had been a decline in the killings resulting from police operations.
‘It is interesting to know how Rep. Paolo Duterte’s colleagues led by Speaker Martin Romualdez will react to this valid suggestion.’
PDEA said 448 persons had been killed in 2020, 214 in 2021, and 27 from Jan. 1 to May 31, 2022. Likewise, the 239,218 police operations that were conducted in the past six years resulted in the arrest of 345,216 individuals. But rights groups had stressed that the death count could be higher, even notching up to 30,000.
While Duterte, former PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa, and others in their camp cannot deny that there were indeed bodies that fell in the streets in that drug war, it is also a fact of recent history that many other Filipinos were killed outside of the state’s judicial process for various reasons and varying circumstances.
These citizens were snuffed out of existence through violent means. If the rights groups now actively calling for punishment against Duterte, Dela Rosa and others consider all Filipino lives as precious and sacred, then these victims of violence should also be recognized.
Victims of common crimes, land disputes, personal vendetta, etc. are included in this separate group of EJKs. Most important is the inclusion of scores of New People’s Army (NPA) and Communist Party members who were summarily arrested and killed by their own leaders under the Operation Missing Link (OPML) and Kampanyang Ahos, two horrifying anti-espionage purges of the CPP-NPA in Southern Tagalog and the Visayas, respectively. The communist movement’s kangaroo courts cannot be considered “judicial” in these killings.
Considering the above, the move by Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte urging Congress to investigate extrajudicial killings and human rights abuses in the country over the past 25 years deserves a serious look.
The son of former president Rodrigo Duterte filed House Resolution No. 1745, asking the House of Representatives to direct the appropriate committee to conduct the probe “in aid of legislation.” Rep. Duterte said the chamber should look into the “surrounding circumstances” behind the incidents of EJKs all over the country, not only in Davao.
He cited the reports of the Philippine National Police, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and other law enforcement agencies stating that the cities of Manila, Cebu and Quezon are among the areas with recorded high incidents of EJKs and human rights violations. The lawmaker wants the probe to cover a period of not only six years, but at least 25 years up to present.
“Human rights violations, including EJK, have been a perennial threat against a significant number of Filipinos for decades already,” the resolution said.
It is interesting to know how Rep. Paolo Duterte’s colleagues led by Speaker Martin Romualdez will react to this valid suggestion.
