3
The Mindanao Examiner
Oct. 2-8, 2017
4
Half of Filipinos don't believe police accounts of drugs war deaths: poll
President Rodrigo Duterte (PCOO Photo)
Duterte branded ‘tyrannical’ ruler
DAVAO CITY – Tyrannical ruler! That’s what communist rebels branded President Rodrigo Duterte as the New People’s Army – which is fighting for a separate rule in the Philippines – urged the public to unite with the billowing wave of resistance against tyranny. Rubi del Mundo, a rebel spokesman, said extra-judicial killings by state forces continue in the country with more than 8,000 people dead in Duterte’s anti-drug war. He said more than a dozen mostly natives or indigenous people were also murdered in the southern region of Mindanao and the killings still continue relentlessly. “Four months into its implementation, the evils of martial law declared by the President Rodrigo Duterte, are pushing the masses in the region to fight in the face of escalating toll of human rights violations perpetrated by the Armed Forces and the
police, and paramilitary forces,” he said, adding, in Southern Mindanao alone since May, security forces had committed at least 68 cases of human rights violations against peasants, Lumad, Moro and other sectors. Sixteen civilians were victims of extra-judicial killings for either being a Lumad, a peasant or actively opposing the anti-people policies of the reactionary government. Del Mundo said Duterte’s atrocious war on drugs has claimed lives of poor Filipinos while the rich and powerful drug syndicates continue to escape his selective justice, save for a few of his political opponents. “He continues to mock the millions of victims of this dark past—thousands of whom were from Davao City and around Southern Mindanao—by frequently declaring that Marcos’ mar-
tial law was very good and conspiring to reestablish the Marcos clan in position and strengthen their hold in national politics,” Del Mundo said. He said the NPA has steadily recruited members in the South and vowed to continue offensive operations against security and government targets. “Democratic struggle and armed revolution flourished during the 14 years of Marcosian martial rule. Duterte’s copycat dictatorial rule will trigger the massive recruitment of young idealistic peasants, workers and petty-bourgeois into the NPA and the underground revolutionary movement and fight the hated regime,” he said. There was no immediate statement either from the military or police or Duterte on Del Mundo’s claims. (Mindanao Examiner)
Continued fr om page 1 from The latest SWS poll predates those events. Forty-nine percent of respondents believed many of those killed by police were not drug dealers, and 54 percent felt many victims had not resisted arrest. The survey suggests doubts among Filipinos about the official stance of the Philippine National Police, which states those killed in anti-drugs operations were dealers, and had refused to go quietly. Police say that has been the case in more than 3,800 incidents in which deaths occurred. The poll also indicates some scepticism about the methods and effectiveness of intelligence-gathering and community campaigns to identify drug users in need of rehabilitation, some of whom, activists say, have been killed after their names appeared on “watch lists”. Duterte’s crackdown has caused international alarm, though domestic polls have shown Filipinos are largely supportive and believe it has made the streets safer. Duterte’s office frequently cites polls, including SWS, as a sign of his public support. But presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella cast doubts about the accuracy of the latest survey, saying it contained “leading and pointed questions that may have unduly influenced the answers”. “We expect pollsters to exercise prudence and objectivity to
arrive at a closer approximation of public sentiment,” he said in a statement. Activists accuse the PNP of executing drug suspects under the guise of sting operations, or of colluding with hit men to kill drug users, allegations the PNP vehemently denies. Duterte’s political opponents say he has made bellicose statements that incite police to commit murder, which he rejects, arguing that his instruction to security forces has always been to kill only when their lives were in danger. Only a fifth of those polled by SWS disagreed with the statement that police had killed many people who had posed no threat to them. A quarter were undecided. Twenty-three percent of respondents believed those killed were drug pushers, as police report, and 27 percent were undecided. Half of those surveyed believed false accusations of drug involvement were behind many killings by police, while 21 percent disagreed with that and 28 percent were undecided. The survey showed higher percentages of those polled in Manila, which has borne the brunt of the drugs killings, felt many victims had neither sold drugs nor fought police, and were being falsely linked to the trade. Phelim Kine, Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director, said the findings by the Social Weather Stations
are not surprising given the critical mass of compelling evidence compiled by Human Rights Watch and investigative journalists that clearly demonstrates that Philippine National Police personnel and their agents have for the past 15 months conducted an unlawful killing campaign under the cynical veneer of "antidrug" operations. He said Human Rights Watch research documented cases based on eyewitness accounts that contradicted the claims by the police and the government that the thousands of victims of the drug war men, women and children were all shot dead because they fought back. HRW's research into many of these anti-drug operations clearly shows the intent of police and their agents to summarily execute the victims. Police claims that the victims fought back - hence forcing the police to shoot them down - were thoroughly debunked in most of the cases Human Rights Watch documented, he further said. “What's needed now is for concerned Filipinos to add their voices in support of Human Rights Watch's call for a United Nation-led investigation into the drug war as a means to end the slaughter and provide accountability for the victims,” Kine said. (Reuters. With reports from Carlos Conde and the Mindanao Examiner)