A top Ilonggo government official along with the religious sector in Iloilo are urging the incoming administration of Rodrigo Duterte to put a stop to vigilante killings as a means of solving the problem of illegal drugs.
“We condemn vigilante killings. We do not support this type of crime solution,” said Senate President Franklin Drilon days before Duterte officially becomes the Philippine president.
“That (vigilante, or bounty-driven killing of persons suspected to be involved in illegal drugs) is not consistent with our democratic system,” emphasized Drilon, who once served as Secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
From the religious sector, the Director of the Jaro Archdiocesan Social Action Center (JASACV), Msgr. Meliton Oso, also expressed alarm over the tactic of the incoming administration in curbing illegal drugs.
“The rule of law must prevail. The incoming Duterte administration must respect the right to life,” Oso appealed.
In the city and province of Iloilo alone, five have been killed since the first week of June, following the May 9, 2016 elections which saw Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte emerged the victor.
All those who killed were said to have been involved in illegal drugs, whether as pushers or users, with both the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) and the Iloilo Provincial Police Office (IPPO) claiming that the suspects were shot because they either engaged the lawmen in gunfire or resisted arrest.
The killing spree started after Duterte won the May 9, 2016 presidential elections. In a huge event celebrating his victory last June 5 in Davao City, Duterte called for people with guns to shoot and kill drug dealers and promised that those who help him in the bloody war against criminality would be rewarded. He said, if a drug dealer resisted arrest or refused to be surrendered to the police, “shoot him; I’ll give you a medal.”
He also offered bounties amounting to millions of pesos to either the police or civilians who can turn in drug lords, dead or alive. These pronouncements raised fears of a witch hunt or the planting of illegal drug substances on even innocent persons just so prize money totaling hefty amounts could be collected.
One of the latest incidents here was the gunning down of a former drug convict by policemen last June 23 in the northern Iloilo town of Estancia.
This, after the ex-drug convict held four people hostage, demanded the release of a prisoner and appealed to President-elect Duterte to stop killing people suspected of being involved with illegal drugs.
excerpt source manila bulletin