LIVE: Senate hearing on unlawful killings
MANILA, Philippines — Joint committees of the Senate will probe on Thursday the spate of unlawful killings that have hounded members of the legal profession, doctors, journalists and activists in the country.
The inquiry comes amid a climate of impunity set by President Rodrigo Duterte himself. Last Friday, in a speech delivered to a regional branch of the red-tagging anti-communist task force, the commander-in-chief again urged security forces to shoot swiftly and to show no regard for the rights of their perceived adversaries.
"I told the military and police that, during encounters, if the enemy is holding a gun, kill them. Kill them right away," Duterte said in vernacular.
"Ignore human rights. That is my order."
Two days later, police raids swept across Calabarzon and left nine activists dead, in what is now known as "Bloody Sunday." The following day, Calbayog City Mayor Ronald Aquino was murdered along with three of his bodyguards in an ambush.
Last Wednesday, a lawyer representing arrested indigenous land defenders and assisting in petitions against the anti-terror law was stabbed in the head and in the shoulder by unidentified assailants.
Angelo Karlo Guillen, National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers Assistant Vice President for the Visayas, survived the attack.
But one of his key witnesses, Julie Catamin, was killed less than a week before the attempt on Guillen's life. Catamin was going to testify on the deadly police and military operations carried out against Tumandok tribe members on December 30 that left nine dead and 18 arrested.
The Senate's probe will be conducted by the Committees on Justice and Human Rights, Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, and Finance.
Watch the Senate hearing LIVE, which will start at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Mar. 11, 2021.
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