Manila: Opposition senators began a campaign that calls for the end of killings in the country’s war against illegal drugs after the death of nearly 80 people, as sympathisers joined the family of a 17-year-old student who was one of the 80 people slain by the police in separate raids in Metro Manila’s Manila district and northern suburban Bulacan between August 15 and August 18.
“This regrettable incident has triggered deep public sentiment, and challenges those in law enforcement to be wary of the reckless exercise of power and authority,” said Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella on Saturday.
Outraged relatives, teachers and classmates of Kian Lloyd Santos, 17, belied a police report that he was a drug addict who resisted arrest with a gun during a raid in Metro Manila’s northern suburban Caloocan on Wednesday.
The Senate must unite against the “senseless killings” of the police Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. He added, “I will call for a senators’ caucus on Tuesday to bring to the fore the alarming resurgence of drug-related killings by police operatives.”
“I will to file a resolution on this. The poor and helpless are casualties in this war while those involved in big drug cases are accorded due process,” said Sen. Bam Aquino.
“We cannot tolerate the alarming police impunity in the country. We need to investigate these killings of alleged drug suspects including a Grade 11 student in police operations,” said Sen. Franklin Drilon, a former senate president.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II has been questioned why only 37 of about 4,000 deaths related to the administration’s anti-drug campaign (since mid-2016) were investigated, Drilon said.
Senator Francis Pangilinan recalled that more than P6 billion (Dh428 million) worth of illegal drugs slipped past the Bureau of Customs (BOC) unnoticed last May. “From the same shipment, about P22 billion worth of illegal drugs remained missing. This is the root of the country’s drug problem — illegal drugs pass through the Bureau of Customs with the help of government officials,” Pangilinan said.
Last Wednesday, after a drug operation, President Rodrigo Duterte said, “Thirty-two were killed in Bulacan, in a massive raid. That’s good. If only we could kill another 32 every day then maybe we can reduce what ails this country.”
Reacting to the tough stance, Senator Leila de Lima said, “Those are clear words of a deranged mind.” She was detained last May for allegedly protecting international and local drugs lords to continue illegal drug trade while incarcerated at the national penitentiary — when she was justice secretary from 2010 to 2016.
More than 20 were killed in a police anti-drug raid in Manila from August 17-18. Twenty-five were killed and 70 were arrested in separate raids by six police stations in Manila on August 16-17. Thirty-two were killed and 107 were arrested when the police held two drug raids in Metro Manila’s northern suburban Bulacan on August 15-16.
Observers said the death of Santos could rally a silent majority to oppose Duterte’s massive anti-drug campaign. International and local rights groups have criticised the Philippines drive against illegal drug.
