Drug war: They shoot children, don’t they? (2)
Of 122 children killed in the bloody drug war, 47 were by policemen, 75 by unidentified men. “Unidentified” meant either cops out of uniform, or vigilantes.
Ninety-nine were male and 23 female. Ninety-seven were in Luzon, 14 Visayas, 11 Mindanao.
Four reasons for child killings: direct targets including silencing for witnessing other killings, proxies for other targets, mistaken identity and stray bullets.
All were in the first half alone, 2016-2019, of president Rodrigo Duterte’s six-year narco-war. At least seven other minors were slain in 2020.
World Organization Against Torture and Children’s Legal Rights and Development Center documented each of the 122 cases. They storified six into “How could they do this to my child? Extrajudicial killings of children during the war on drugs in the Philippines.”
Condensed in this second of two parts are three more narratives:
• Angel, 16. A slew of killings two weeks before Duterte’s ascent presaged his drug war.
June 19, 2016: Angel’s 25-year-old male friend arrived after dinner to take her out for a stroll. Grandma consented, then worried when she didn’t return before midnight.
Early the next morning, a neighbor rushed over to tell grandma that Angel had been shot. At the crime scene she found Angel and friend lying in a pool of blood. They’d been shot by bonneted men around 2:30 a.m., police claimed. An improvised firearm, nine bullets and three sachets of meth were found nearby. Grandma denied that Angel was into drugs.
An overseas worker, Angel’s mom flew home for the wake. A witness told her that Angel and friend had been shot by cops on night patrol. The friend was known in the community as a drug pusher. Mom, afraid of retaliation on her other children, didn’t press charges.
• Elena, 1 year and 8 months. March 11, 2018: A stray bullet hit Elena as two men on a motorcycle fired repeatedly at a man they were chasing. Police said the pusher was cornered beside the stall of her grandma where Elena was playing.
Elena was rushed to Sta. Ana Hospital in Manila. Five days later, her parents transferred her to Ospital ng Makati where she expired on March 17. Witnesses swore the motorcyclists were cops.
Reporting the incident to authorities, the parents were told that Elena’s death was an accident and no one claimed responsibility. The parents got no government assistance.
On April 10, Elena’s dad committed suicide due to depression.
• Paul, 16. Paul had dropped out of Grade 3 and never returned to school. He lived in with Mina, also 16 and two months pregnant, on the ground floor of his parents’ house. He planned to join his dad in the fishing outfit nearby. A month before his death, barangay authorities accused him of robbery.
Around 11 p.m. of Jan. 25, 2017, Paul and Mina plopped into bed. Paul’s brother Ron went out for fresh air. Walking down the street, he saw three policemen alight from two motorcycles and enter a neighbor’s house. From the window he noticed them hurriedly changing into civilian shirts.
Around 11:45 p.m. Mina was about to doze off when startled by the barge in of three men in grey jackets, masks and bonnets. She noted their familiar policemen’s pants. Each had a handgun. One asked where Paul was. Mina pointed to her sleeping partner. The man grabbed Paul by the hair and pulled him to the door. Mina asked what it was all about. They ignored her and beat up Paul.
Roused by the commotion, Paul’s mom went for the stairs but was stopped by her husband. Below, Paul cried out for help. The mom heard a male voice bark out: “Patahimikin mo na ‘yan, masyado nang nag-iingay.” Three shots rang out.
Downstairs, Mina said one of the men ordered another to silence Paul. Paul was shot in the mouth, head and body. Witnessing the killing, Mina ran out the door. One of the three followed her, fired a shot, but missed.
Mina saw three other uniformed policemen waiting outside. Two of the three had arm tattoos: “SAID,” or Special Action on Illegal Drugs.
Paul’s mom peered out the window and saw three policemen outside and three others exiting their door. One of them shouted, “Nanlaban!”
When the six left, the mom rushed down and saw Paul’s lifeless body. Dead on arrival at the hospital.
Paul was killed because he was listed in the barangay’s drug watch, the mom was told. Paul’s inclusion came after the killing. Paul’s parents obtained a police report a month later. It stated that since “perpetrated by unidentified men,” the case was closed.
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Today is the 14th death anniversary of irreplaceable scientist genius Leonard Co.
Mistaken for a rebel in the forests of Kananga, Leyte, soldiers had machinegunned Leonard. He was then researching native trees beside the compound of Energy Development Corp.
Two EDC foresters and two guides were with Leonard. One forester and one guide perished in the ambush, and the two others severely wounded. The ambush was a human rights violation.
Leonard was no ordinary botanist from UP Diliman. While trekking jungles with colleagues and students, he would identify each tree, bush, shrub and grass by its scientific and local name. He spent decades studying Philippine flora, discovering unlisted ones in the Sierra Madres. One such find was a species of a giant Malay flower the size of a rice pot – aptly named Rafflesia leonardi.
Colleagues and friends will again commemorate Leonard’s life and achievements at 11 a.m. today, Dita tree beside Natural Sciences Research Institute, UP Diliman.
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Catch Sapol radio show, Saturdays, 8 to 10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM).
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