SENATOR Leila de Lima on Wednesday urged the Department of Foreign Affairs to invite United Nations Special Rapporteur on summary executions Agnes Callamard to look into the rising number of extrajudicial killings in the country.
Official figures show that as of Sept. 14, 3,173 suspected drug pushers or users were killed since July 1, the start of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on illegal drugs. Of these, 1,138 were killed in police operations, while 2,035 were victims of extrajudicial or vigilante killings.
“The average number of persons killed daily for the past two and a half months is 42.3. By any standard, the statistics are alarming and staggering. And judging from both official and media sources, there is no showing that we will soon experience a downtrend in the figures,” De Lima said.
De Lima filed Senate Resolution No. 153 urging the DFA to invite Callamard to look into the spate of extrajudicial killings and summary executions amid the campaign against illegal drugs.
“Unless a third-party investigator comes in, there is reason to believe that we may not be able to ferret out the whole truth behind the killings, and to serve complete justice to the victims and the Filipino people,” she said.
The former Justice secretary also noted that multilateral organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union, have expressed grave concerns over the drug-related killings in the country, and urged the government to put a stop to them.
She cited local and international media reports about how the so-called war on drugs is being carried out, especially in light of the large number of extrajudicial killings and summary executions.
On Sept. 15, the European Parliament said that while it agrees that drug trafficking and abuse in the Philippines remain a serious and national concern, it is likewise alarmed by the high numbers killed during police operations in the context of an intensified anti-crime and anti-drug campaign.
She said the EP urged the Philippine government to put an end to the current wave of extra executions and killings, launch an immediate investigation into them and adopt specific, comprehensive policies and programs, in full compliance with national and international organizations and respect for human rights.
At the end of the recent Asean Summit, US President Barack Obama said the US will not back down on its opposition to human rights abuses in the war on drugs.
In June 2016, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the administration’s apparent support for extrajudicial killings.
De Lima, who was ousted as chairman of the Senate committee on justice after she began her investigation into the extrajudicial killings, again cited her witness, Edgar Matobato, a former hitman with the Davao Death Squad, who said President Duterte had ordered the deaths of hundreds of drug suspects when he was still mayor of Davao City.
“This call for a speedy and impartial investigation is justified by the perception that our local institutions of law enforcement and justice, including domestic mechanisms of accountability of public officials, appear to be either inadequate, compromised or weak,” the senator said.
Being a signatory to various UN conventions, De Lima said the Philippine government may pursue an impartial investigation through an independent commission of inquiry to be conducted by the UN Special Rapporteur.
Under the UN Human Rights Council’s Resolution 26/12, the Special Rapporteur “undertakes visits to examine the situation of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary execution in the respective country, and formulates recommendations to the government and other actors on upholding the right to life.
“Such on-site visits by the Special Rapporteur can be initiated by an official invitation from a concerned government, Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, however, said he did not support De Lima’s resolution.
“Why would the UN interfere? Would they agree that we also interfere [in their affairs]?” Sotto said.
He added that the resolution would go to foreign affairs chairman Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who has been defending Duterte against De Lima’s attacks.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, on the other hand, said it was a shame to admit to the whole world that the country could not manage its own problems.
On Tuesday, former Justice undersecretary Francisco Baraan III denied receiving millions of pesos from convicts transferred to the NBP, an accusation made by inmate Herbert Colangco in testimony before the House.
Baraan challenged Colanggo to substantiate his charges,
“Colango’s claim is a complete nonsense. I challenge him to produce any document that shows I approved any transfer of inmates within the Bilibid compound,” Baraan said.
“The transfer of prisoners within the Bilibid compound, e.g. from the medium security to the maximum security, is decided exclusively by the BuCor director. I did not have that authority to cause or order any such transfer. In instances like this, the Bucor director would decide alone, and would not formally seek the approval of the Office of the Secretary,” the former Justice official said.
Baraan also denied Colango’s allegation that he even had a bag woman named “Susan” who allegedly collected P500,000 for every inmate who requested to be transferred to another compound in the NBP.
“I do not personally know of any employee in the technical staff whose name is Susan. I inquired from Director Dy-Po and she informed me that two employees in her office carry that name. What I am certain of is that I do not have–with either of them–that kind of dealing that Colangco generally described in his outlandish claim,” he said.
In his testimony, Colanggo said his fellow inmates would come up to him whenever they wanted another inmate transferred from one security compound to another.
The convicted robber and car thief claimed that he would be the one to arrange the transfer by getting in touch with Baraan’s camp, through a certain “Susan.”
In once instance, Colangco said Baraan and Susan asked for P500,000 to move an inmate.
In another instance, Colango said he would give Baraan P3 million to transfer an inmate, but would ask P4 million from the requesting Chinese inmate so he could earn from the transaction.