MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Human Rights said Friday it is looking into the killing of two activists who were gunned down by police in Albay province.
Albay police shot dead Jaymar Palero and Marlon Napire at the Banao Bridge in Barangay Lower Binogcasan in Guinobatan on July 26, hours before President Rodrigo Duterte delivered his sixth and final State of the Nation Address.
They had been found spray painting a slogan calling for Duterte’s ouster.
"The CHR is already moving in its investigation [into] the death of two activists who [were] shot in what the police claimed to be a ‘shootout’ after the victims allegedly ‘nanlaban’ (fought back)," CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia said in a statement.
“CHR is interested in ferreting out the truth after there are accounts that the two victims were claimed to be unarmed during the incident and that one of the victims, Jaymar, was said to have signs of torture,” de Guia said.
The National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police’s Internal Affairs Services are also conducting separate probes into the killing of two activists. Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, PNP chief, also ordered the relief of two cops tagged in the killing.
CHR said it has provided emergency cash assistance to facilitate the autopsy on Palero's body.
Although investigation into the deaths is still ongoing, the Supreme Court in 2013 ruled in Aguilar vs Department of Justice et al.—a case that involved a suspect being killed in police custody— that "when the accused admits killing the victim, but invokes a justifying circumstance, the constitutional presumption of innocence is effectively waived and the burden of proving the existence of such circumstance shifts to the accused."
‘Dissent must be respected’
CHR said that continuous attacks and deaths of activists remain to be a “cause of concern” for the commission.
“These incidents have repercussions on the people’s exercise of freedom of expression, and right to raise complaints and petition action from government without fear of punishment or reprisals. Arbitrary killing is also clear assault to a person’s right to life,” de Guia said.
“We call on the government to move on its commitment to uphold the rights of all, including even those who express protests against government policies and actions. Dissent, after all, is part of a thriving democracy, which ought to be respected,” she added. — Gaea Katreena Cabico with report from Kristine Joy Patag