WHAT PEACE, WHAT ORDER? by Leila M. de Lima, CHR chair
(Commissioner Leila M. De Lima, chair of the Commission on Human Rights, delivered this opening statement at the Consultation/Public Inquiry on the Extralegal Killings in Davao City at the Lantawan Room, 9th floor, Royal Mandaya Hotel-MindaNews ed).
Is there a Davao Death Squad? While the moniker emanates from the creativity of media, does the name reflect a real or fictitious phenomenon occurring here in Davao City? Is there, indeed, a concerted and deliberate stratagem of systematic killing in this city? While the consistency of killings continue, we must ask if this is a function of criminal audacity, government lethargy or both? Does the persistence of killings remain unabated because of government lethargy, or have local officials acquiesced to it, or worse, sponsored it?
