MANILA, Philippines — A survivor of an attempted extrajudicial killing in the Philippines submitted a statement to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for its hearing on the human rights consequences of President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war.
The US Congressional commission invited witnesses to analyze the implementation of Duterte's anti-drug campaign following reports of more than 8,000 drug-related killings in the Philippines. The government, however, countered this and released lower numbers of drug-related killings.
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Reports of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines have raised questions about how the US should balance its concerns for protecting human rights while maintaining bilateral alliance and pursuing shared goals.
Efren Morillo, the lead petitioner before the Supreme Court in the first legal challenge against Duterte's war on drugs, recounted how his friends were killed by policemen.
"This case is a test for the Philippine judicial system and we will follow its progress with interest," Massachusetts Rep. James McGovern said in his opening remarks.
On Aug. 21, 2016, Morillo went to see his friend Marcelo "Nonoy" Daa Jr. in Payatas, Quezon City to collect money the latter owed to him. Morillo found Daa in his house with three other friends—Jessie Cule, Rhaffy Gabo and Anthony Comendo—who were also garbage pickers.
While Morillo was playing pool with Daa and Cule to pass the time, five men and two women in civilian clothes arrived and pointed their guns at them.
"The whole time, the armed men kept accusing the five of us of being involved in illegal drugs. We piteously protested that we are innocent of any crime or wrongdoing," Morillo said in his statement.
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The armed men, whom Morillo later on recognized as policemen, ransacked the house but were not able to find contraband, only a cigarette lighter in the shape of a gun and some shiny paper. The policemen took the lighter and the shiny paper and insisted that the items prove their involvement in illegal drugs.
Morillo played dead after one of the policemen shot him in the chest. Before that, he saw Daa being shot twice by the same policeman.
He crawled out of the opening when he sensed that the policeman left the room. Clutching his chest wound, he slid down the ravine a few meters away, crossed the stream at the bottom, trudged up the hill on the other side and walked until he reached the highway.
"While walking, I prayed to God. I prayed that I may live to see my children grow up, and to seek justice for Nonoy and his friends who were murdered," Morillo said.
Officials from the Commission on Human Rights took Morillo under their care after being held captive by policemen while being treated in the hospital.
Morillo was accused of resisting arrest and fighting back during a Tokhang operation.
"They alleged that a gunfight ensued between them and me and my companions. They accused us of being caught in the act of using drugs, and being notorious drug suspects and even hold uppers," Morillo said.
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He sought the help of the Center for International Law-Philippines and filed a petition for the writ of amparo before the Supreme Court. On January 31, the high court issued a temporary protection order against the policemen involved in the killings.
"I survived, but thousands did not. I owe it to them to speak out and join the quest for full justice for all the victims of the killings," he said.
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