An immense failure

Letters

THE drug war campaign is taking this nation nowhere. As the bodies pile up, the root causes of the illicit drug trade has barely been scratched on the surface. The Duterte regime is no closer to solving the drug problem today than when he took office last year. This war on drugs has been a massive failure, a tragedy which has rid the Filipino people of their rights and has normalized abuses by State forces. As we mourn for 17-year-old Kian Lloyd delos Santos, let us strengthen our resolve for justice for all victims of State terror.

Delos Santos was killed on Aug. 17, 2017 during police operations. Autopsy reports that he was defenseless when he was shot, contrary to the police narrative that he fought back. A CCTV video, as well as first-hand witnesses also denied allegations alluding to the scenario of “nanlaban.”

On Thursday,the Senate inquiry on the circumstances of Kian’s death further shed light on the injustice and arbitrariness of police conduct in relation to the drug war. They have come up with some ridiculous excuses to hide the truth that the police murdered a 17-year-old. The PNP, emboldened by Duterte’s orders and policies, has exposed itself as capable of such heinous crimes, using taxpayer’s money to murder the Filipino people.

The PNP, as an institution, has long been involved in corruption, extortion, and many other illegal activities. The case of Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo who was killed inside the premises of Camp Crame and the release of Supt. Marvin Marcos and 18 others involved in the Albuera rub-out incident are among those that highlight police abuses and impunity.

The PNP itself is an organized crime syndicate. Having them carry out a bloody campaign such as the war on drugs is a disaster waiting to happen, and indeed it was a disaster. The most that these murderers got were suspensions or reassignment, incomparable to the grief, injustice and rights violations they have inflicted to the poor.

We mourn for the thousands of others whose lives were taken in the course of this bloody campaign. We thus call for an end to the killings, the immediate prosecution of those involved, and an end to the war-on-drugs campaign. The Duterte regime should acknowledge that what it has waved as a flagship policy is now a failure that encourages police brutality and rids the poor of their rights. –Cristina Palabay, secretary general, Karapatan

Hands off, Aguirre

WE are urging Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II to inhibit himself from the investigation on Kian delos Santos’s slay case. Our group is joined by the “Running Priest” Fr. Robert Reyes, known for his protest actions against corruption.

We say that Aguirre has lost all credibility to hear the case following his one-sided statements questioning the events that led to the 17-year-old’s death. We are also calling on Aguirre to stop insisting on taking custody of Kian’s witnesses into the Witness Protection Program.

It is our view that the DOJ Secretary’s initiative to secure the witnesses to the case of Kian de los Santos is detrimental to having a thorough and impartial investigation of the case

His various statements about the case has shown that he’s already made up his mind about the case. He called Kian’s death overblown and the witnesses “brainwashed.” All of this, apparently in efforts to continue the war on drugs, a known failure as a policy measure.

We, law students, say that Aguirre has violated the following provisions of the Code of Professional Responsibility of Filipino Lawyers, on many occasions, in response to the slay case of delos Santos:

• Rule 1.01 – A lawyer shall not engage in unlawful, dishonest, immoral or deceitful conduct.
• Rule 3.01 – A lawyer shall not use or permit the use of any false, fraudulent, misleading, deceptive, undignified, self-laudatory or unfair statement or claim regarding his qualifications or legal services.
• Rule 8.01 – A lawyer shall not, in his professional dealings, use language which is abusive, offensive or otherwise improper.

This not only sets a bad example to aspiring lawyers but it actually erodes the public’s trust in our justice system. It is to the satisfaction of justice that Aguirre would not intervene in the investigations and the proceedings, and just let justice run its due course.

In the spirit of impartiality and the pursuit of justice, we call on Secretary Aguirre, the “fake news king of Padre Faura,” to inhibit from investigating the killing of 11th grader Kian Delos Santos.

We also cite Aguirre’s record of whitewashing cases of police brutality when the Department of Justice downgraded the charges against the 19 cops accused from murder to a bailable offense homicide in the case of Albuera Mayor Espinosa.

Aguirre is desperate to protect the cops like he has done before during Espinosa’s case. He has no interest to protect the witnesses so he should stop insisting on taking them in as well.

We call on Secretary Aguirre and the entire Department of Justice to inhibit from the case of Kian delos Santos. Officials who cannot be trusted to tell the truth cannot be trusted to provide a fair investigation.

We support proposals to let the Office of the Ombudsman investigate delos Santos death instead. –Kathleen Benavidez, UP Law School; Karla Yu,  Amber Quiban of Bukluran UP System, Jeza Rodriguez, secretary general, Student Council Alliance of the Philippines; Karla Yu, co-convenor, Millennials Against Dictators