Opposition marks 1st death anniversary of Kian delos Santos

MANILA, Philippines — Opposition senators marked on Thursday the first death anniversary of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos who was killed by Caloocan police in an anti-drug operation in August of last year. 

Police alleged Delos Santos was a drug runner who fought back in a police operation on Aug. 16, 2017. 

His body, found slumped in the mud with a gunshot wound in the head, suggested he was shot while defenseless, the prosecution has said.

The teenager’s death sparked outrage against police abuses in the administration’s war on drugs.

Detained Sen. Leila de Lima in a statement, said the murder of Delos Santos opened the eyes of Filipinos to the culture of violence under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte and the failures of his campaign against illegal drugs. 

"The search for justice for Kian's death is also the cry of thousands of bereaved families in the bloody policies of the Duterte regime, of the poor which includes innocent children," De Lima said in Filipino. 

De Lima also slammed Duterte's war on drugs for having no clear direction and leaving thousands dead. She said this showed that the president could not resolve the country's drug problem within three to six months into his term. 

"Don't think for one second, though, that quitting will let you off the hook. Justice will soon catch up on you. You shall answer and will be made accountable for your crimes against humanity," she said. 

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who filed a resolution to declare August 16 every year as a National Day of Remembrance for all the victims of extrajudicial killings in Duterte's war on drugs, urged Filipinos to not "allow Kian and all the EJK victims to be rendered nameless, invisible and forgotten."

In a separate statement, Sen. Bam Aquino said the country should not remain silent on the spate of killings.

"How many more will it take us to realize that a society in which the blood of the poor is shed is only full of suffering and will not create a bright future? May we not be indifferent toward the killings and violence that are happening in our streets," he said.

Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said Duterte's war on drugs "has spiraled into a graver problem of police cover-ups, police brutality, impunity and widespread abuses."

"From the scourge of illicit drugs, the Filipino people is now plagued with another pestilence – the scourge of corrupt, bloodthirsty policemen who roam communities without any regard for people’s rights, believing they can get away with the protection of top authorities,” Palabay said in a statement.

The war on drugs has also led to an "embarrassing failure" on the Duterte administration and an "irreparable damage to communities and families."

"It does not solve the fundamental socio-economic problems that have allowed the drug trade to thrive. The bodies keep piling up, while this government remains blind and stubborn in the peddling of this 'war,'" she added. — Philstar.com intern Christian de Lano Deiparine