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05 FEBRUARY 2009
The Commission on Human Rights will be conducting a Public Hearing in Davao City to look into the vigilante-style killings, summary executions and other extralegal killings in the City.
In a recently held seminar-workshop on extralegal killings and enforced disappearances, sponsored by the Supreme Court’s Philippine Judicial Academy and the CHR, held in Davao City, CHR Chairperson Leila M. De Lima expressed deep alarm about the “most mysterious serial killings” in Davao City which "are in large part attributable to the inscrutably secret 'Davao Death Squad'."
And in a recent dialogue between Chair De Lima and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, the latter expressed willingness to fully cooperate in an open and transparent public inquiry.
“Just what is happening in Davao puzzles me no end, considering that no witnesses surface even in cases of killings which occurred in broad daylight. The killings or salvaging or whatever term one wants to call it cannot remain mere statistics. We must be fully aware of what factors contribute to these incidents, know exactly the scope and magnitude of the killings, among others. Are those killings state-sponsored or simple criminality within police jurisdiction? We need to know the TRUTH”, the CHR 4th Commission top official said.
“When people in Davao or any part of the country or in the world for that matter becomes "callous" or "apathetic" when the so-called vigilante killings take place, then it becomes a very bad sign, and worse, a serious matter not only for human rights institutions in particular but to the entire humanity in general”, Chairperson De Lima said.
“We will know after next week’s enbanc meeting the schedule of the Public Inquiry. We will summon the Mayor, other local officials, the Philippine National Police (PNP), all sectors such as the NGOs, the religious groups, the media, the academe from whom we will extract information and insights as well”, Chairperson De Lima continued.
In a press statement the other day, the CHR strongly condemned the summary killings in Metro Manila. The independent constitutional body’s chief stressed that a single person killed for no apparent reason is already a human rights violation or violation of the most fundamental human right, the right to life. Moreover, the anxiety and pain the incident brings to his loved ones is another form of human rights violation.