“Extrajudicial Killing in the Philippines”

(Reaction paper)

Since mid-2016, extrajudicial killings (EJK) associated with President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on
drugs have claimed more than seven thousand lives, according to Amnesty International, raising
significant concern over human rights violations. Last year, as many as 32 people were killed in
Metro Manila in a single night. [1] The municipality where I live has been heavily impacted by
EJK due to its high concentration of the urban poor. The war on drugs may be understood as a
war on the urban poor who tend to live in informal settlements; it does not threaten the affluent
in their gated subdivisions.

During my time in Metro Manila, I have visited the urban poor and heard stories from bereaved
family members of EJK victims. One woman begged the death squad to spare her 24-year old
daughter so that she could at least visit her in prison; they shot her daughter execution-style in
front of the family. Another woman prayed that the death squad would kill only her brother or
his wife so that the children would not become orphans; they murdered both parents. The
vigilantes showed no regard for human dignity, or due process, or trauma inflicted upon family
members.

An extremely disturbing aspect of EJK is the hidden profit motive behind each killing. The
mortuary typically arrives shortly after the incident to claim the corpse, and charges 15,000 pesos
to release the body of the deceased. Because this is an impossible amount for urban poor families
to pay, many victims never receive proper burial. It is rumored that the vigilantes also receive
15,000 pesos for each EJK they carry out.

Holistic Care

The Philippine Catholic Church, having been lax in addressing the social crisis of drug addiction,
was jolted into action. While church leaders supported the eradication of illegal drugs, they
opposed the government’s methods based on their principal commitment to protect human life.
In the end, they devised a strategy that defined the role of the Church as social
facilitation/dialogue, psycho-social education, pastoral counseling, spiritual healing, and
provision of sanctuary and volunteers.

When the war on drugs broke out last year, many drug suspects sought counsel from the church
on whether to surrender to the police or to flee. Because the police had no protocol for removing
a person whose name had been added to the watch list, the church initiated a dialogue with the
Chief of Police and local government officials. The church negotiated a special truce: on
September 1, 2016, forty people whose names were on the watch list surrendered in exchange for
a promise by police that they would not be harmed. Since then, more than 13,000 people have
surrendered peacefully through the facilitation of the church.
“The response to addiction is not sobriety but connection,” explained a parish priest. “We have
to connect the drug user to himself or herself, to family, to community, to one another.” There
are now six community-based drug rehabilitation program (CBDRP) centers throughout the
diocese where drug users can seek treatment. The rehabilitation of drug addicts involves a
clinical, spiritual, and vocational dimension. Furthermore, the church provides holistic care for
drug users, their families, and the affected communities; but the recovery process is long and
costly. I strongly encourage Rotarians, as well-connected professionals within the community, to
develop programs of educational assistance and livelihood opportunities for survivors.

Civil Resistance

The Center for Peace Education, where I am interning, exhorts the government to find nonviolent
solutions to the drug problem. In September, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle invited parishes in
Metro Manila to participate in a “Stop the Killings” campaign by reciting the rosary, tolling
church bells and lighting candles every 8 p.m. because the death squads usually come out around
that time. The nonviolent campaign culminated on November 5 with a mass at the historic EDSA
Shrine and a procession to the People Power monument. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of
the Philippines, which organized the event, described it as “a religious activity that will gather
the faithful to pray for forgiveness and the country’s healing amid the spate of extrajudicial
killings.”

The event was full of symbolism. The mass began at 3 p.m. which the Catholic Church considers
the hour of Divine Mercy. The principal celebrant, Archbishop Socrates Villegas, delivered a
stern warning in his homily: “No government lasts forever. Only God is forever. Power belongs
to the people not the power-holder.” Archbishop Villegas himself was a protégé of Cardinal
Jaime Sin, who had been a major force in the 1986 People Power Revolution. After the mass, the
revered image of Our Lady of Fatima, which had been used in the 1986 People Power
Revolution, was again processed along EDSA to the People Power monument one kilometer
away.

The Philippine Inquirer estimated that 20,000 people turned out to the monument to pray for
peace. I attended the event with friends from Pax Christi Philippines; Miriam College; the
Religious of the Good Shepherd; and the Congregation of Jesus and Mary. It was extraordinary
to witness both religious and political leaders strongly united against EJK. I even shook hands
with Former Vice President Jejomar Binay at the event. Senators issued the following statement
about the procession: “We hope the united prayers of the prelates and the faithful will stir the
inner voice of our leaders and those who kill the helpless to stop wasting lives and mend their
ways.”