THE KILLING FIELDS OF THE PHILIPPINES
MAYORS, VICE MAYORS KILLED UNDER DUTERTE GOV’T
(5th UPDATE) Rappler tallies at
least 7 vice mayors and 12 mayors slain since July 2016
Jodesz Gavilan @jodeszgavilan
Published 12:04 PM, July 02, 2018
Updated 4:15 PM, November 14, 2018
MANILA, Philippines (7th UPDATE) – President Rodrigo Duterte's 3rd year
in office opened with an unprecedented number of mayors and vice mayors killed.
In more than a week, two mayors and two vice mayors were shot dead.
Rappler tallies at least 7 vice
mayors and 12 mayors slain, based on media reports between July 2016 and
October 2018. With the exception of Albuera, Leyte, Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr
who was shot dead while detained, all were killed while holding office.
1. Pamplona Vice Mayor Aaron Sampaga – August 2016
Pamplona Vice Mayor Aaron Sampaga was killed by unidentified gunmen on
August 5, 2016 in Cagayan province. He was 3-term Pamplona mayor before his
sister Arnie Angelica Sampaga was elected mayor during the May 2016 elections.
2. Datu Saudi Ampatuan Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom – October 2016
Datu Saudi Ampatuan Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom was killed in an alleged
shootout with state operatives on October 28, 2016 in Makilala, North Cotabato.
He was flagged down at a checkpoint “based on information that the group will
transport illegal drugs to Maguindanao and Cotabato area.”
Dimaukom was one of the local officials on the drug list of President
Duterte.
3. Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr – November 2016
Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr was killed in a reported
shootout inside his jail cell at the Leyte Sub-Provincial Jail in Baybay City
on November 5, 2016. Authorities alleged they were serving a search warrant
when he resisted.
Espinosa arrested by police in October 2016 in connection with
violations of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 and for illegal possession
of firearms and ammunition after a PNP raid in his house yielded 11 kilos of
suspected methamphetamine worth an estimated P88 million, and high-powered
weapons.
He and his son, Kerwin, were among the first alleged drug personalities
named Duterte.
4. Datu Saudi Ampatuan Vice Mayor Anwar Sindatok – November 2016
Datu Saudi Ampatuan Vice Mayor Anwar Sindatok was entertaining guests
inside his home in Maguindanao when an unidentified suspect shot him at close
range on November 26, 2016.
Initially elected as the town's number one councilor, Sindatok assumed
the post of vice mayor after the previous vice mayor, Anida Dimaukom, assumed
the post of mayor to replace the slain Dimaukom.
5. Pantar Mayor Mohammad Exchan Limbona – December 2016
Pantar, Lanao del Norte Mayor Mohammad Exchan Limbona was killed in an
ambush in Iligan City on December 29, 2016. He was with his wife, daughter, and
two escorts when an unidentified group open fired at his vehicle in Barangay
Dalipuga.
Local police said that possible motive for the killing could either be
politics or rido, a family feud.
6. Marcos Mayor Arsenio Agustin – June 2017
Marcos town Mayor Arsenio Agustin was gunned down by unidentified men
in his town in Ilocos Norte on June 3, 2017 while he inspecting a water
impounding project. He and his driver, Mark Valencia, were declared dead on
arrival.
7. Bien Unido Mayor Gisela Bendong-Boniel – June 2017
Bien Unido, Bohol Mayor Gisela Bendon-Boniel was believed to have been
abducted and killed on June 7, 2016 allegedly by her husband, Bohol Board
Member Niño Rey Boniel, over marital issues. Her remains are yet to be found.
8. Balete, Batangas Mayor Leovino Hidalgo – June 2017
Balete, Batangas Mayor Leovino Hidalgo was gunned down by unidentified
men on June 10, 2017 during a local sports event, according to a GMA News
Online report.
9. Ozamiz Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog – July 2017
Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog and 14 others, including his wife
Susan, brother Octavio Jr, and sister Mona, were killed in a police raid on
July 30, 2017. State agents were allegedly serving a search warrant when
Parojinog's security personnel attacked.
The Parojinogs, an influential clan in Misamis Occidental, are among
those named by Duterte in his list of local government offiicals allegedly
involved in the drug trade.
10. Roxas, Oriental Mindoro Vice Mayor Jackson Cinco Dy – September
2017
Roxas town, Oriental Mindoro Vice Mayor Jackson Cinco Dy was gunned
down by unidentified men on September 22, 2017, according to a Philippine Daily
Inquirer report. The assailants fled using a motorcycle.
11. Ronda, Cebu Vice Mayor Jonah John Ungab – February 2018
Ronda, Cebu Vice Mayor Jonah John Ungab was killed when unidentified
gunmen opened fire at his vehicle on February 19, 2018 along S. Osmeña Street,
Cebu City. He is the lawyer of suspected drug lord Kerwin Espinosa.
12. Buenavista Mayor Ronald Lowell Tirol – May 2018
Buenavista, Bohol Mayor Ronald Lowell Tirol was shot at close range by
an unidentified man while inside the town's cockpit arena on May 27, 2018. He
was declared dead on arrival.
13. Tanuan City Mayor Antonio Halili – July 2018
Tanauan City, Batangas Mayor Antonio Halili was shot dead on July 2,
2018 during a weekly flag-raising ceremony in front of city hall. He grabbed
headlines for implementing a “walk of shame” for drug suspects back in 2016,
which was slammed by the Commission on Human Rights because parading suspects
was unconstitutional.
In November 2017, after the Duterte administration linked him to
illegal drugs, the National Police Commission stripped Halili of powers to
supervise the local police. Halili refused to heed calls for him to surrender.
14. General Tinio Mayor Ferdinand Bote – July 2018
Mayor Ferdinand Bote of General Tinio, Nueva Ecija, was killed by
motorcycle-riding gunmen on July 3, 2018 while coming from the National Irrigation
Administration office in Cabanatuan City. He was declared dead on arrival at a
nearby hospital.
15. Trece Martires Vice Mayor Alex Lubigan – July 2018
Vice Mayor Alex Lubigan of Trece Martires, Cavite was shot dead on
Saturday, July 7, in front of the Korean Hospital in Indang Road, Barangay
Luciano.
An initial spot report stated that he was on board a black Toyota Hilux
when a black Montero fired at the victim's vehicle "and resulted in his
unfortunate death."
16. Sapa Sapa Vice Mayor Al Rashid Mohammad Ali – July 2018
Sapa-Sapa, Tawi-Tawi, Vice Mayor Al Rashid Mohammad Ali was shot dead
on July 11, 2018, by riding-in-tandem suspects while on board his vehicle in
Zamboanga City. A family member said the victim came from a mall.
17. Ronda Mayor Mariano Blanco III – September 2018
Mayor Mariano Blanco III of Ronda, Cebu was shot dead on September 5,
2018, inside his office at the town hall. A police official said Blanco, who
had been sleeping at his office for a while already, was shot by 4 unidentified
men.
Blanco was linked to illegal drugs under the Duterte administration.
18. Supiden Mayor Alexander Buquing – October 2018
Mayor Alexander Buquing of Sudipen, La Union, was ambushed by
unidentified men on board a white pick-up on October 1, 2018 while on his way
home with his wife, Vice Mayor Mary Joy Buquing, driver Boni Depdepen, and
police guard Police Officer II Rolando Juanbe.
Mayor Buquing, his driver, and bodyguard were declared dead on arrival
at separate hospitals.
19. Balaoan Vice Mayor Al-fred Concepcion – November 2018
Vice Mayor Al-fred Concepcion of Balaoan, La Union was killed when his
convoy was ambushed by unknown assailants on November 14, 2018 while on his way
to the municipal hall. His security escort was also killed in the incident. His
daughter, Mayor Aleli Concepcion, survived but suffered injuries. – Rappler.com
RAPPLER GALLERY OF MAYORS, VICE MAYORS KILLED UNDER DUTERTE GOV’T
DUTERTE IS ASSASSINATING OPPONENTS UNDER THE COVER OF THE DRUG WAR,
PHILIPPINE RIGHTS GROUPS SAY
Time.com
By Joseph Hincks July 5, 2018
The assassination of two provincial mayors in two days has raised fresh
fears that law and order in the Philippines—already in a fragile state as the
result of a bloody war on drugs—is deteriorating further.
On Tuesday, motorcycle-riding gunmen ambushed Mayor Ferdinand Bote in
his car after he left a meeting in Cabanatuan City, about 100 miles north of
Manila. The morning before, a suspected sniper shot Mayor Antonio Halili in the
chest as he sung the national anthem in front of Tanauan City Hall in Batangas,
about 40 miles south of the capital.
Their deaths have brought to at least 10 the number of mayors who have
been killed since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016.
Halili, who had gained local notoriety for parading drug suspects on
“walks of shame”, was stripped of his powers to supervise anti-drug operations
when authorities included him on a list of government officials supposedly
linked to narcotics (the administration is fond of making such accusations,
often without proof). His death came just four days after Duterte publicly
joked that vice mayors should kidnap or otherwise depose their bosses.
“The earlier you do away with your mayor, the earlier you become the
mayor also,” he told an audience in Bohol province, where at least two mayors
have been killed since he took office.
“Duterte’s culture of violence is upon us. No one is safe now,”
opposition senator Antonio Trillanes, said in a statement Tuesday. Trillanes,
who last year told TIME he was an assassination target, added that whether or
not Halili’s killing turned out to be connected to the war on drugs, the
president had turned the Philippines “into the murder capital of Asia.”
… the latest spate of mayoral murders “reflects the persistent climate
of impunity” that has been exacerbated by Duterte’s drug war, author and
analyst Richard Heydarian tells TIME. “To this date, we are yet to see any of
the cases of extrajudicial killings resolved, highlighting the disturbing
erosion of rule of law,” he says.
According to some estimates, more
than 20,000 people have died in the war
on drugs.
Human rights groups say Duterte,
a former mayor elected on an anti-crime platform, is using the drug war as a cover
to crack down on political opponents. The deaths of mayors like Halili
strikes fear into the hearts of “politicians, especially in the provinces, who are
then forced to toe Duterte’s line,” says Carlos Conde, Philippines researcher
for Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) Asia division.
Months after his election, the Philippine President read out a list of
158 public officials he accused of being involved in the narcotics trade. This
year, his administration put out another list of 600 people, including a UN
Special Rapporteur, alleged to be communist terrorists. At least four mayors on
government “narco-lists” are now dead.
Link: http://time.com/5330071/philippines-mayors-political-assassination-duterte/
PHILIPPINE CATHOLIC PRIESTS: ‘THEY ARE KILLING US’
Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1051626/lawyer-for-9-slain-farmers-shot-dead#ixzz5lUpUCozn
PH NOW ‘KILLING FIELDS’
Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/117140/ph-now-killing-fields#ixzz5lUqxbUh7
It has progressively become the norm to address political conflicts in the Philippines according to Duterte’s modus operandi in Davao and now in the Philippine presidency, that is, by simply shooting your opponents dead.
PHILIPPINE CATHOLIC PRIESTS: ‘THEY ARE KILLING US’
Three Catholic priests killed, one severely injured, in separate
attacks in the country since December.
by Ted Regencia
Aljazeera.com
13 Jun 2018
The killings of three Catholic
priests since December have raised alarm in the Philippines, with the
church and political leaders condemning the continued "culture of
impunity" in the country.
"We should be alarmed," Fr Jerome Secillano, a spokesman of
the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said in an interview
with Al Jazeera on Wednesday.
"Killing is a form of violence. We do not want violence to
permeate in our society. We want a violence-free society. We want our citizens
to be freely roaming around, with a sense of security and safety."
Richmond Nilo was the latest member of the Catholic clergy to be killed by unidentified gunmen on
Sunday, as he was preparing for a church service in the northern province of
Nueva Ecija.
While he does not see any pattern of Catholic priests being targeted,
Secillano said the continued "culture
of impunity" paved the way for the killing of Nilo and other priests.
"The church has been telling [authorities] in the past that we
should put a stop to the killings. The killings should not have a place in our
society, even if the ones being killed are considered [by the government] as
the 'scumbags' in our society," he said.
Catholic leaders in the district where Nilo served as a priest also
issued a strongly-worded statement against the administration of President
Rodrigo Duterte, whose war on drugs has left thousands of people dead.
"Are you still saying this is the best government we ever had?
They are killing our flock. They are killing us, the shepherds. They are
killing our faith. They are cursing our Church," the letter, signed by
Archbishop Socrates Villegas and other senior church leaders, read.
Villegas also urged Duterte "to stop the verbal persecution"
against the Catholic Church, "because such attacks can unwittingly
embolden more crimes against priests".
'We don't hate him'
In December 2017, a 72-year-old
priest was shot in Nueva Ecija, just hours after facilitating the release
of a political prisoner. In April, a 37-year-old
priest, who advocated for ethnic minorities and against mining, was killed in the northern province of Cagayan.
A fourth priest, who had served as chaplain for the Philippine police, survived an assassination attempt
outside of the capital Manila earlier this month.
On Wednesday, opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros filed a resolution
calling for an investigation into the killings, to bring "accountability
and justice" to the attackers and stop the killings, not only of Catholic
clergy members but also civilians.
"It's a question that is bothering people's minds. Are priests also
being targeted now? Are these attacks borne out of President Duterte's repeated
verbal attacks against the church?" Hontiveros said in a public forum.
Hontiveros said the president has a "habit" of lashing out at
his critics, including the Catholic Church, which had been outspoken in
opposing the deadly war on drugs. …
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS
CATHOLIC PRIEST SAYS LIFE IN DANGER FOR CRITICIZING DUTERTE
Jim Gomez
Aug 27, 2018 ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this May 13, 2016, file photo, Filipino Catholic priest Father Amado
Picardal gestures during an interview at the Catholic Bishops' Conference of
the Philippines office in Manila, Philippines. Picardal, who is one of the
earliest critics of the Philippine president's deadly crackdown on drugs, has
gone into hiding due to what he says were signs that he's being targeted by
motorcycle-riding hitmen. (Credit: Aaron Favila/AP.)
MANILA, Philippines - A Catholic priest who was one of the earliest
critics of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly crackdown on drugs has
gone into hiding due to what he says were signs he’s being targeted by motorcycle-riding
hitmen.
Father Amado Picardal said Monday that he has gone into a “more secure
location” and out of the public view after workers in a Catholic monastery that
he visits in central Cebu city reported seeing motorcycle-riding men watching
the compound, including a pair who asked for his whereabouts.
“I couldn’t go out for biking, running, walking due to security
concerns,” Picardal said in an email in response to questions about his safety
concerns, which he first disclosed in a personal blog.
“I have left my hermitage in the mountain and transferred to a more
secure location to continue my life as a hermit far away out of reach from the
death squad,” he said.
The 63-year-old priest said that he helped document alleged
extrajudicial killings under Duterte’s campaign when Duterte was still mayor of
southern Davao city and that he would continue criticizing the killings despite
his safety concerns.
Picardal added that he is willing to testify if asked by the
International Criminal Court, where a complaint against Duterte in relation to
the drug killings is being examined.
…Picardal gained public attention with his cross-country biking to
protest the drug killings and promote peace talks with communist rebels.
When he was assigned in Davao, Picardal said he compiled a report on drug killings from 1998 to 2015, when Duterte served as mayor of the vast port
city, and spoke for a nongovernment coalition that opposed extrajudicial
killings and helped the Commission on Human Rights investigate the deaths.
Duterte has said none of those investigations turned up any evidence
against him. Picardal said the investigations failed to pin down Duterte then
because witnesses against him “were scared to testify.” A number of witnesses
linking Duterte to the killings, however, have turned up in Senate
investigations after Duterte rose to the presidency, Picardal said, adding that
he has helped provide sanctuary to former members of the so-called “Davao death
squads” who may testify before the ICC.
“This is most likely one of the reasons that I am being targeted by the
death squad,” Picardal said.
In an interview with The Associated Press in May 2016, Picardal
recounted how he helped poor families bury young men killed by gunmen in Davao
after being linked to illegal drugs. He said then that a Duterte presidency was
“very frightening” and warned that human rights groups would need to keep a
close watch and document any violations due to Duterte’s threat to replicate his
anti-crime style in Davao to the rest of the country.
Picardal said in his blog late Sunday that he was aware of the danger
when he took up his human rights advocacy. “I am ready to accept martyrdom if
they catch up with me, but I do not seek it nor do I make myself an easy
target,” he said.
Link: https://cruxnow.com/church-in-asia-oceania/2018/08/27/catholic-priest-in-philippines-says-life-in-danger-for-criticizing-duterte/
LAWYER FOR 9 SLAIN FARMERS SHOT DEAD
LAWYER FOR 9 SLAIN FARMERS SHOT DEAD
By the Inquirer Staff / 05:30 AM November 08, 2018
Lawyers and human rights groups are crying out for justice over the
killing of activist-lawyer Benjamin Ramos less than a month after helping
families of nine farmers who were shot dead by unknown attackers in Negros
Occidental province.
Ramos, 56, a founding member of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers
(NUPL), had just bought cigarettes and was standing in front a store in his
hometown of Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, around 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday,
when one of two men on a motorcycle shot him three times.
“We decry this latest incident in a quick succession of violent attacks
against lawyers, who are now enveloped in fear as they seek to provide access
to justice to their clients,” said Abdiel Fajardo, president of the Integrated
Bar of the Philippines.
Fajardo said lawyers, prosecutors and judges were “being targeted with
surging frequency and impunity.”
“Each unsolved and unprosecuted murder of the officers of our courts of
law is an attack against the rule of law,” he said.
In a statement, NUPL said 34 legal professionals had been killed since
President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016.
Not counting judges and prosecutors, Ramos was the 24th lawyer killed
and the eighth in the Visayas, it added.
“These beastly attacks by treacherous cowards cannot go on. Not a few
of our members have been attacked and killed before while literally practicing
their profession and advocacies in the courts, in rallies, in picket lines, in
urban poor communities, and in fact-finding missions,” the NUPL said.
In a statement, former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno said a
government that did not act to stop the “rampant killing of defense lawyers …
kills not only its citizens and their defenders, but also the rule of law.”
Such inaction “extinguishes hopes for a just and humane future,” Sereno
said.
PH NOW ‘KILLING FIELDS’
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:10 AM November 01, 2018
The Philippines has become the killing fields.
I absolutely agree with “He is not just number 17” (10/13/18) by Stella
Oliver Gonzales on the death of her cousin Alan Oliver Buquing, the mayor of La
Union.
I concur with her analysis, where a death becomes merely a statistic.
What are the law enforcement agencies, especially the police, doing?
Do they even assign a token team of investigators for each case?
So far, I can count cases solved with one hand.
SISTER NENITA TAPIA, MM, ntapia0530@gmail.com
It has progressively become the norm to address political conflicts in the Philippines according to Duterte’s modus operandi in Davao and now in the Philippine presidency, that is, by simply shooting your opponents dead.
Photo labeled free to share and use
ReplyDeletePhoto link: https://hronlineph.com/2016/09/24/statement-investigate-the-killings-stop-the-impunity-idefend/
Gonzalinho
ALL CAPS MINE
ReplyDeleteBISHOP CONFIRMS DEATH THREATS
By: Aie Balagtas See - Reporter / @ABalagtasSeeINQ
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 07:27 AM February 27, 2019
Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, whom President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to kill, has been receiving death threats.
On Tuesday, David said his life was in danger so he decided to skip the Ka Pepe Diokno Human Rights Awards in De La Salle University (DLSU) Manila.
“FOR OVER A WEEK NOW MY MOBILE PHONE has been buzzing with TEXT MESSAGES written in screaming and capital letters telling me that I WAS NEXT IN LINE FOR EXECUTION,” David said through a letter read by his brother Randy.
“Well-meaning friends who are worried for my personal safety have advised me not to take this threat lightly. I am begging off from today’s event,” David added.
“What is paramount is I don’t want to endanger the lives of those who would accompany me to this venue.”
Standing up to President
At the height of the bloody war on drugs in 2017, David was one of the few bishops who took a stand against the killing of drug suspects.
He gave a Mass for Raymart Siapo, the 19-year-old boy from Navotas, who was killed by 14 armed men after a neighbor accused him of peddling marijuana in front of barangay officials.
Since then, David has never stopped speaking against the police and extrajudicial killings. For serving as the bishop overseeing Caloocan, Malabon and Navotas, he was merely doing his job, he said.
These cities have the highest number of people killed in Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs.
In these areas, David put up mission stations so that the people, especially those in slums, had a place to run to for help.
Threat from the President
Last November, THE PRESIDENT THREATENED TO KILL HIM.
“David! I’m beginning to suspect why you’re frequently roaming around at night. You could be into drugs,” said the President at the groundbreaking of a water supply project in Davao City.
In the same speech, the President threatened to have the head of a bishop cut if he was found to be buying drugs, without naming anyone in particular.
Not into drugs
David, vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, didn’t take this sitting down.
He immediately responded to the President’s threats through a Facebook post: “Into drugs? No, Sir, I’m not into drugs of any sort, whether legal or illegal. Never been.”
…The younger Diokno, a senatorial candidate and a human rights defender, called on the President to be responsible for the things that he says.
Seeing patterns
He also BLAMED THE DEATH THREATS on THE PRESIDENT’S EARLIER PRONOUNCEMENTS encouraging people to kill Catholic bishops.
David was supposed to attend the Tuesday ceremony, where he and Maria Ressa, CEO of Rappler, an online news site critical of the President, were recipients of the awards.
Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1090160/bishop-confirms-death-threats#ixzz5ohz7xMkx
Gonzalinho
ALL CAPS MINE
ReplyDeleteSTEEP LOSS OF TRUST
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:14 AM March 03, 2019
Almost three years into President Duterte’s “relentless” war on illegal drugs, the latest survey by the Social Weather Stations reveals grave findings that should trouble Malacañang — if only it could be bothered to rethink and reform its flagship domestic policy.
According to the survey, most Filipinos fear they will be the next victims of the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) that have become the bloody hallmark of the drug war, and that policemen themselves are involved in the drug trade and in the EJKs.
The loss of trust in the police is steep: 68 PERCENT BELIEVE that SOME POLICEMEN ARE INVOLVED IN THE ILLEGAL DRUG TRADE; 66 PERCENT, that SOME ARE INVOLVED IN THE EJKS OF ALLEGED DRUG SUSPECTS; and 58 PERCENT, that they OFTEN PLANT EVIDENCE AGAINST SUSPECTS THEY ARREST. In addition, majority — or 78 PERCENT of the 1,440 adults surveyed using face-to-face interviews — were WORRIED that THEY OR SOMEONE THEY KNOW WILL BECOME VICTIMS OF EJKS. This figure represents an increase from the 73 percent in June 2017.
SWS pollster Mahar Mangahas delved into these pivotal findings in his column in this paper yesterday: “On 2/27/19, in ‘28% of Filipinos do not believe claims of ‘nanlaban,’ 28% believe, and 44% are undecided,’ SWS reported six surveys since December 2016 all showing that ONLY ONE IN FOUR FILIPINOS BELIEVES the POLICE CLAIM that THEY KILL THE SUSPECTS IN SELF-DEFENSE.
“Even worse, the GREAT MAJORITY OF FILIPINOS SEE POLICEMEN as DRUG WAR VILLAINS THEMSELVES, rather than as the people’s protectors. In December 2018, 68 percent considered the accusation that ‘some policemen are involved in the illegal trade’ as either definitely or probably true. This proportion was 70 percent in April 2017.”
The latest survey, conducted from Dec. 16-19, 2018, comes more than a week after Mr. Duterte said the war on drugs will be “harsher in the coming days.”
…how safe is a country that has seen tens of thousands of deaths of its own citizens, and millions more in the grip of anxiety that they would suffer the same bloody fate, not in the hands of criminals, but in the hands of the police themselves?
As Mangahas pointed out, “The collateral damage of the deadly war on illegal drugs includes the people’s loss of trust in the police.”
A CITIZENRY THAT HAS COME TO FEAR FOR THEIR LIVES and loathe the supposed protectors and law enforcers in their midst is, by any measure, A SIGN OF A STATE FAILING ITS PEOPLE.
Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/119896/steep-loss-of-trust#ixzz5rkSiHXns
Gonzalinho
ALL CAPS MINE
ReplyDeletePRIESTS STILL FACING DEATH THREATS
By: John Nery - @jnery_newsstand
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:07 AM March 12, 2019
Yesterday, two weeks after President Duterte started walking back his statements calling for the death of bishops and priests, three priests went public with the death threats they and two bishops have received in recent months. It was an extraordinary news conference at a theological school in Quezon City, not only because the three priests — ALBERT ALEJO, SJ; ROBERT REYES; AND FLAVIE VILLANUEVA, SVD — alternated their grim presentation establishing a pattern of intimidation with hopeful meditations, even the reading of an excerpt from a poem.
More unusual: Two of the three priests, Reyes and Villanueva, said they declined offers from the Philippine National Police to assign bodyguards to them, and the third, Alejo, said if he received such an offer he would have to decline it, too. Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, one of the most outspoken critics of the appalling death toll of the Duterte administration’s main program, the so-called war on drugs, has also declined an offer of police protection.
The priests asked the public to understand why they needed to decline the offers. As things stand, they cannot wholly trust the same organization implicated in thousands of killings. Reyes, known to many before as the “running priest” because he used running as a means to advocate for his causes, said they would rather rely on their parishioners and their fellow priests, and on the public, for protection.
…over the last two and a half years, ONLY BETWEEN 5 AND 10 PERCENT OF FILIPINOS say they BELIEVE THE POLICE when the police SAY THE DRUG SUSPECTS WERE KILLED BECAUSE THEY FOUGHT BACK. …
Villanueva noted COMMON ELEMENTS that characterized each drug-related killing, including A COUPLE OF SACHETS OF SHABU, A .38-CALIBER REVOLVER, and the fact that ALL THE DEAD HAD DIRTY FEET—and then wondered aloud whether there were in fact thousands of these .38-caliber revolvers already in the possession of the police. Surely these GUNS, KEPT AS EVIDENCE, WOULD NOW NUMBER IN THE THOUSANDS?
…The most striking impression I received from watching the live streaming of the news conference was the language of the threats that the three priests, Bishop David, and Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, received.
One message sent to David, for instance, read as follows (spelling as presented in the news conference): “Masyado kayung paki alamero ni Socrates lalo na yung olopong nyung pari si Alejo at Reyes. Putang ina talaga kayu. Pakialamero kayu… Ilalabas namin mga scandalo ng olopong nyung pari. Makipagtulungan na kasi kayu. PI talaga kayu. Pesteng yawa kayu…”
A translation: “You and [Archbishop] Socrates [Villegas] meddle too much, especially those treacherous priests [Albert] Alejo and [Robert] Reyes. You are real sons of bitches. You meddlers… We will bring out the scandals of your treacherous priests. You really should cooperate. You’re all SOBs. You’re all damned devils…”
On the same day, David received the following message: “PI kayu gusto nyu pa sigurong may mamatay. Pesteng yawa talaga kayu.” A quick translation: “You’re SOBs. Maybe you want someone to be killed. You’re all damned devils.”
The messages do not seem to have been written by a native Tagalog speaker; the spelling suggests someone who learned to spell the words through everyday conversation, not in school. And the insult or curse used to “sign off” the messages is not Tagalog, but Bisaya: “Pisting yawa” can mean anything from merely annoying to something deeply enraging.
To be continued
PRIESTS STILL FACING DEATH THREATS
ReplyDeleteBy: John Nery - @jnery_newsstand
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:07 AM March 12, 2019
Continued
But the kicker: The priests and the bishops are described exactly as President Duterte, in mid-rant, describes priests and bishops he wants killed. As meddlers. As too noisy for their own good.
At the very same time he was walking back his statements two weeks ago, Mr. Duterte couldn’t help but reveal what he really thought of David and others like him. He called them arrogant, as making too much noise.
WHEN THE PRESIDENT MAKES A DEATH THREAT, Reyes said at the news conference, IT BECOMES POLICY. …
Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/120078/priests-still-facing-death-threats#ixzz5thSKH9s0
Gonzalinho
ALL CAPS MINE
ReplyDeleteHIT LIST
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:08 AM March 12, 2019
Today, if plans push through, Malacañang’s list of politicians allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade would be released to the public.
The SO-CALLED NARCOLIST supposedly contains the names of 82 INCUMBENT OFFICIALS linked to illegal drugs, 64 OF WHOM ARE RUNNING FOR REELECTION in the midterm polls in May.
The Duterte administration is hell-bent on disclosing the names despite well-meaning advice from its own allies that the disclosure would violate the basic presumption of innocence of individuals.
“You cannot let the people wait,” insisted presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo last week.
And yet, the DUTERTE ADMINISTRATION has WASTED TWO YEARS AND SEVEN MONTHS WITHOUT A SINGLE CASE FILED AGAINST the ALLEGED DRUG SUSPECTS mentioned in an EARLIER SIMILAR LIST that President Duterte had brandished in AUGUST 2016.
That first narcolist of some 150 officials later turned out to be riddled with errors.
…INCLUSION IN THE LIST proved to be FATAL TO A NUMBER OF PEOPLE. FIVE ACCUSED MAYORS ENDED UP DEAD, including suspected drug lords Rolando Espinosa Sr. of Albuera, Leyte, and Reynaldo Parojinog Sr. of Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental.
…PANELO, a veteran lawyer, didn’t bat an eyelash in declaring that THOSE ON THE LIST DO NOT ENJOY THE PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE — because “they know they are involved, they run for public office and it’s fair game.”
This, even with Interior Secretary Eduardo Año’s admission that the list was still “undergoing evaluation,” and that he has yet to coordinate with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the office tasked to handle the matter.
…Mr. Duterte had previously made the incendiary claim that the intelligence and information backing the list came from wiretaps provided by foreign countries (the United States, Russia and China).
The idea that foreign governments are wiretapping Filipino citizens with the approval and perhaps active collusion by the Duterte administration immediately kindled a firestorm.
Panelo had to backtrack on the claim after Sen. Panfilo Lacson, a former military officer and police chief, reminded him that wiretapping (unless authorized by court) is illegal and cannot be used as evidence.
Only one Duterte official has had the good sense to state publicly that he is against releasing the list: PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino. …
…“Many told me that it will become a death list if I released it.”
That’s probably what it will turn out to be — a HIT LIST AGAINST DISAGREEABLE CANDIDATES AND POLITICAL NONALLIES, and yet another illustration of this administration’s ruthless assault on basic due process and democratic norms.
Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/120080/hit-list#ixzz5thUtL1vw
Gonzalinho
‘MINDLESS, TERRIFYING’ EXPERIMENT
ReplyDeletePhilippine Daily Inquirer / 09:00 AM April 11, 2019
The extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in the name of President Duterte’s drug war have reached thousands. But has this administration solved the problem? “Shabu” just keeps coming in. (In fairness to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, some of the shipments have been intercepted.)
These days, the President is into brandishing “NARCOLISTS.” MAYORS AND OTHER PUBLIC OFFICIALS, EVEN POLICE OFFICIALS, ARE ON THE LISTS. JUDGES AND CELEBRITIES, TOO. The lists remain pending, waiting for validation, officials say. But this PROCESS OF VALIDATION WAS NOT, IS NOT, APPLIED ON THE POWERLESS AND THE HELPLESS. They were/are SIMPLY SHOT TO DEATH BY EXTRAJUDICIAL MEANS.
Church leaders and bishops have denounced the EJKs. And for doing so, they reap the most horrible and vile counterattacks from the President.
Months ago, he warned that his drug war would become even more chilling. But, perhaps seeing now that “tokhang” is not the solution, the President has begun to say he is getting tired and cannot do anything anymore.
But that’s like saying the MERCILESS, VIOLENT “TOKHANG” OPERATIONS were JUST AN EXPERIMENT (though he does not say he is giving them up). A mindless, terrifying experiment that has COST THOUSANDS OF LIVES, WITH FAMILIES AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES bearing THE PAIN, THE FEAR, THE ANGER.
Will we see any kind, any gesture, of apology or compensation from the President for this?
SISTER MARISSA PIRAMIDE, OSB
Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing
Manila Priory
Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/120686/mindless-terrifying-experiment#ixzz6CwmMP21p
Get real, Sis, no apologies are forthcoming.
Gonzalinho
Ordinary, mostly poor Filipinos extrajudicially killed in Duterte’s drug war: 20,000. Members of the Marcos, Estrada, Enrile & Arroyo families in prison for plunder: 0. Whether judicial or extrajudicial, killing as a penalty is always unjust because it will always be unequal.
ReplyDeleteRuben Carranza @RCarranza_
July 25, 2019
Gonzalinho
The President should learn by now that problems are not solved by shooting people. There is a problem with hunger, delayed delivery of aid, and lack of health services. Rather than make threats, the President should just deliver the aid sought by the people. #TulongHindiKulong
ReplyDeleteRenato Reyes, Jr., @natoreyes
Philippine Daily Inquirer, April 3, 2020
Gonzalinho
DINAGAT BOARD MEMBER SHOT DEAD AFTER SUNDAY JOGGING
ReplyDeleteRappler.com
Published 11:40 AM, July 07, 2019
Updated 11:47 AM, July 07, 2019
MANILA, Philippines – Dinagat Islands Sangguniang Panlalawigan board member Wenefredo Olofernes was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Surigao City on Sunday morning, July 7, the Surigao City police confirmed to Rappler.
Olofernes and his partner were riding their motorcycle on their way home from jogging at the provincial grandstand in Surigao City, when a gunman also in a motorcycle fired one shot, said the police.
The bullet hit the head of Olofernes, who was declared dead on arrival at the Caraga Regional Hospital, according to the police. Olofernes' partner sustained bruises from their fall on the motorcycle.
Police was still conducting follow-up investigation as of posting time.
See: https://www.rappler.com/nation/234782-dinagat-islands-board-member-wenefredo-olofernes-shot-dead
Evidently, the murder is the result of a worsening climate of impunity for the perpetration of extrajudicial killings and political assassinations, amplified under the Duterte administration.
Gonzalinho
THE WORLD IS WATCHING
ReplyDeletePhilippine Daily Inquirer / 05:14 AM July 11, 2019
…The Supreme Court has a standing order for the turnover of all documents relating to EJKs to legal groups that, along with other valiant local organizations, have been at the forefront of the fight against the worst excesses of Mr. Duterte’s flagship campaign. But as AI Philippines’ Butch Olano pointed out, the PNP has yet to comply satisfactorily with the Court’s directive.
Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/122534/the-world-is-watching#ixzz6RgKlkuF7
More impunity…
Gonzalinho
THE TRUTH ON THE GROUND
ReplyDeletePhilippine Daily Inquirer / 05:08 AM July 14, 2019
Last Sunday, July 7, was “Bloody Sunday,” according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), following three separate killings in different places that once again highlighted the breakdown of law and order in the country. The modus: assassination, by “riding-tandem” gunmen who, as usual, managed to escape afterward.
In Cagayan province, businessman Arnel Agustin was shot dead with a bullet to the chest as he and his wife were riding in their pickup truck. His wife was left wounded.
In Surigao City, 52-year-old Wenefredo Olofernes, the top member of the Dinagat provincial legislature, had just finished his morning exercises and was riding his motorcycle when gunmen shot him in the head at Barangay Luna. His companion survived unscathed.
In Negros Oriental, 42-year-old Salvador “Bador” Romano was also on a motorcycle and had just left the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI, or the Philippine Independent Church) in the town of Majuyod when he was gunned down. An advisor for the Youth of IFI, Romano was also a volunteer for the human rights group Karapatan.
Three different individuals — a businessman, a political leader and an activist — all felled on the same day through the same means.
The Duterte administration has time and again said it is serious about investigating and prosecuting extrajudicial killings on its own, without the pesky prodding of international observers, such as the HRW, the United Nations and the European Union.
But what has become harrowingly undeniable is that the bloodbath, whether arising from police operations or from brazen assassinations by hired killers, continues unabated across the land.
…on Monday, just a day after Bloody Sunday, Mario Agsab, a “lumad” councilor from Bukidnon, was killed while on his way home. Two days later, radio commentator Eduardo Dizon was shot several times by unidentified assailants in Kidapawan, making him the 13th journalist to be killed under the Duterte administration. According to the International Federation of Journalists, the Philippines has become one of Southeast Asia’s most dangerous places for journalists.
That is the truth on the ground — the blood of Filipinos being spilled by the day, even as the government remains seemingly dead set on looking away.
Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/122599/the-truth-on-the-ground#ixzz6RgNwnVCZ
Extrajudicial killing and political assassination has become a habit in the Philippines.
Gonzalinho
A withdrawal from the UNHRC, and the Philippines’ departure from the ICC signals only two things: our government’s disdain for human rights and refusal to account for state-sponsored human rights abuses. Aren’t these obvious yet?
ReplyDeleteMarie Thérèse, @Marie_TheReese
Philippine Daily Inquirer (July 16, 2019)
Repudiation of human rights is a classic building block for the advancement and consolidation of totalitarian regimes, whether fascist or communist.
Gonzalinho
THE PRESIDENT IS HIDING
ReplyDeleteBy: Antonio Montalvan II - @inquirerdotnet
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:06 AM July 22, 2019
…The PNP accomplishment report itself had actually said there were 20,000 deaths from July 2016 to November 2017. Deflating the numbers began after that when the PNP arbitrarily assigned a classification, deaths under investigation, numbering to more than 20,000, relates the German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
The Supreme Court had questioned the death toll in April 2018. “This is a total of 20,322 deaths during the Duterte administration’s antidrug war from July 1, 2016, to Nov. 27, 2017, or an average of 39.46 deaths every day. This court wants to know why so many deaths happened?” And how did the government respond? Solicitor General Jose Calida, not shy to strut his feathers as a Duterte ally and Marcos dictatorship fan, replied: the documents “contain sensitive information that have national security implications.” As of this writing, his data remains hidden.
Last week, the PNP said 7,867 police officers have been sanctioned for drug war offenses. Carlos Conde elucidates however: only one case has resulted in conviction; the rest are mere administrative cases, meaning only the PNP has investigated. No cases have been elevated to the government’s prosecution arms such as the Ombudsman or the Commission on Human Rights.
The fundamental question now is: if Mr. Duterte has nothing to hide, why is he afraid of the UNHRC resolution, only calling for a modest monitoring report? What is he hiding? Where is the truth hidden?
On Twitter: @AntonioJMontal2
Email: antonmonta@gmail.com
Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/122770/the-president-is-hiding#ixzz6RgVRmHWj
More impunity…
Gonzalinho