Davao City Mayor Sebastian ‘Baste’ Duterte speaks in a forum at the Grand Men Seng Hotel in Davao City on 28 January 2024. MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 08 April) – Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed alarm on Monday over the “war on drugs” declared by Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, as it could revitalize the deadly campaign against illegal drugs waged by his father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, in the locality.
In a press statement, the rights-based group said the drug war campaign of the previous administration has continued until the current government under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
It said the failure of the Marcos administration to end “violent anti-drug raids” only encouraged local leaders to adopt similar violent measures to address the drug menace in violation of the international human rights law.
Bryony Lau, HRW Asia deputy director, said the pronouncements of Mayor Duterte “may have sparked another round of police summary execution” in the area, but added that “drug-related killings never ended,” suggesting the Marcos administration has not done enough to end the “drug war.”
He said thousands of victims and their families continue to struggle without “a remedy or justice.”
After Duterte declared a war against illegal drugs last March 22 where he warned to kill drug suspects if they don’t stop or leave the city, the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) reported that seven drug suspects were killed during police operations with 78 arrests in 65 buy-bust operations conducted as of 12 p.m. on April 8.
MindaNews sought the DCPO for comments on HRW’s statement but it has yet to respond as of 3:20 p.m. of the same day.
HRW said the recent killings in the city “are merely a spike in a ‘drug war’ that has never stopped.”
“President Marcos has continued the anti-drug campaign begun by his predecessor (President Duterte). He has said repeatedly that the campaign against drugs will focus on rehabilitation but killings have continued,” it said.
Citing data from the University of the Philippines Third World Studies Center, the group added that although there is a decline in the rate of killings under the Marcos administration, there are over 600 people killed in “drug-related” incidents in the 19 months of his presidency.
It added that newly-appointed Philippine National Police chief Rommel Francisco Marbil vowed to adhere to “the rule of law in achieving 100 percent drug-free” communities and to ensure “accountability and transparency in the investigations of drug-related killings, such as those in Davao City.”
The group said that drug-related killings would not end and local leaders would justify the controversial drug operations unless “Marcos clarifies publicly that he has ordered a policy shift to end targeted killings of alleged drug dealers and users, and states clearly that those responsible for unlawful killings will be fully prosecuted.”
Lau urged the Marcos administration “to take stronger action to demonstrate that the ‘war on drugs’ is officially over.” (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
