OVER the past three months, more than 3,000 suspected drug dealers and traffickers have been killed amidst the Philippine government’s current bloody war against drugs. More than 600,00 others—mostly drug users—have surrendered to authorities for fear that they might be next on the “Kill List.”
Officials said there are about 3.7 million drug addicts in the country, a figure that they said reflects a problem of “epidemic proportions.”
“I didn’t realize how severe and how serious the problem of drug menace in this republic (was) until I became president,” President Rodrigo Duterte said.
Shocked by the extent of the drug menace in the country, Duterte pleaded for six more months to fulfill his earlier promise to end the drug problem and criminality in the country.
Of this staggering death toll, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has only accounted for 1,167 deaths after 18,814 operations from July 1 to September 20. The others—alleged to be involved also in drug-related crimes—were killed in summary executions by vigilantes.
To strengthen the accountability of law enforcers and to institute corrective legislative measures to ensure full respect for basic human rights, Sen. Leila De Lima filed Senate Resolution 9 to seek an inquiry into the rising number of extrajudicial killings and summary executions of suspected criminals.
“Extrajudicial or summary killing is homicide. Carried out premeditatedly and in conspiracy with other public authorities, it becomes mass murder, which, if left unabated and unchecked, can escalate into a crime against humanity under international law,” De Lima said in her resolution.
During a Senate hearing last week, a witness who claimed to be a former member of the vigilante Davao Death Squad, accused then-Davao City Mayor Duterte of ordering his criminals and enemies killed. Edgar Matobato also revealed that Duterte ordered to ambush De Lima in 2009, when the latter was still the chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights.
Because of her apparent opposition to the current administration and, De Lima has stumbled upon a legal quagmire of acrimony and finger-pointing.
On Monday, Sept. 19, De Lima accused by fellow Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano of “destroying the integrity and reputation” of the Senate by being supposedly biased against Duterte. She was then ousted as chairperson of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, which is investigating the extrajudicial killings of suspected drug criminals.
In her privilege speech on Tuesday, Sept. 20, De Lima defended herself and maintained that she was only doing her job as a senator.
“Mr. President, I am not the problem. I am not the one giving a bad image to this country before the international media, contrary to the accusation and belief of Senator Cayetano. The problem of this country and this administration is the extra-judicial killing of more than 3,000 of our countrymen in the past three months, or more than a thousand per month,” De Lima said.
No matter what side Filipinos are on, they must not miss the point. There are more than 2,000 unaccounted deaths since the recent drug war was launched. There were lives that were wasted and were deprived of their human rights only because of their alleged connection with drugs.
Though it may also seem as a continuous argument, this political travail will contribute to a to a more forthright national consciousness. Every riveting detail that will be exposed for the public to absorb will bring Filipinos to a level political sophistication. (AJPress)
