Mariano Marcos State University

College of Law

Legal Research Finals

Extrajudicial Killings “EJK” in the Philippines

Submitted to: Atty. Nalupta

Submitted by: Niccolo Vittorio T. Santos

Introduction

I chose extrajudicial killing as a legal issue to discuss because it is not yet solved and it is

still ongoing. And every month the number of death increases. There are mixed emotions and

reactions of the people about this issue. There are people who are contrary to this issue and some

are not, believing that this will be the solution to those criminals and drug pushers to be stopped.

“Extrajudicial killings” is one of the biggest legal issue here in the Philippines right now,

since President Rodrigo Duterte won the 2016 Presidential election and started the war against

drugs.

An extrajudicial killing is the killing of a person by governmental authorities without the

sanction of any judicial proceeding or legal process. Extrajudicial punishments are mostly seen

by humanity to be unethical, since they bypass the due process of the legal jurisdiction in which

they occur. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrajudicial_killing

Background

A TOTAL of 3,257 extrajudicial killings (EJKs) were committed during the Marcos

dictatorship. In contrast, there were 805 drug-related fatalities from May 10 (when Rodrigo

Duterte emerged winner of the presidential election) to Aug. 12, per the Inquirer count.

If the current rate continues, the total number of EJKs for the six years of the Duterte

administration will end up about 700 percent more than the killings committed during the 14

years of the Marcos dictatorship.

Ruben Carranza, director of the New-York-based International Center for Transitional

Justice, points out that “when over 500 civilians have been killed by both police and vigilantes

with the clear goal of targeting them in a ‘war against drugs,’ with their impunity explicitly

guaranteed by the president, then the elements of EJKs as a ‘crime against humanity of murder’

are already there—(a) widespread or systematic killings, (b) civilians are targeted, and (c) the

perpetrators know or intended their conduct to be part of a widespread or systematic attack.”

opinion.inquirer.net
 There are 5,617 killed (1,959 in police operations, 3,658 extrajudicial or by vigilantes,

37,449 arrested, 834,659 "surrendered on the war on drugs of the present administration.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Drug_War

Kill List.

So-called kill lists look to be spiralling out of control, with bodies strewn in the most

public of places – including Edsa, the main freeway that runs through the Metro Manila region.

The irony is that the freeway was the location for the people power revolution that ousted the

Marcos dictatorship in 1986. Bodies bundled up with tape – and labelled “snatcher”, “dealer”,

“pusher” or “user” – suggest vigilantes are taking Duterte’s wild promise to eradicate all crime

seriously. But the truth of whether the dead were guilty will never be proved, and is barely even

questioned. Duterte’s incitement has quickly created a monster, unleashing murderous

criminality.

The kill lists are largely the work of the police. Election rhetoric has quickly become

policy with executions on the streets. Some reports estimate that 10 people are killed a day , but

nothing can be verified: police forces are able to rely on self-defence, avoiding legal

accountability even though there is a strong suggestion that innocent people are being caught up

in the carnage. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/09/kill-list-phillipines-

duterte-mass-murder-china-united-states-rivalry-war-on-drugs

Also the media already disclosed a so called “Kill List”, stated there are all the names,

where they were killed, who killed them, and related issue why they were killed.

The surge in the killing of suspected criminals since June 30, 2016, has been marked and

unmistakable. Most of those killed were identified by the police as suspected drug dealers or

pushers (“tulak”). The KILL LIST is an attempt to document the names and other particulars of

the casualties in the Duterte administration’s war on crime.

To date, the list includes at least 370 dead who remain unidentified and over 100 who are

identified only by an alias; we are seeking other ways to verify identification. Three individuals

previously reported dead have since been confirmed alive; the INQUIRER has removed them

from the count but keeps their names on the list with the disclaimer that they are still alive. 
 Update 41 killings as of 12:00 p.m., Dec. 8, 2016, since June 30: 1,775 since May

10: 1,822

(Notes: 60 deaths have been added since the last update. Of this number, four are unidentified

persons and four are identified only by aliases.

Another child has become a casualty in the war on drugs. San Niño Batucan, 7, was killed by a

stray bullet that was meant for a 17-year-old drug user and fired by yet another masked gunman.

At least 15 suspected drug users–not pushers–were killed by unidentified hitmen in Metro

Manila this week. Five of them had already surrendered to police during Oplan “Tokhang.”)

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/794598/kill-list-drugs-duterte#ixzz4Sm8qF91d 

Related articles

Rodrigo Duterte won the 2016 Philippine presidential election on May 9 promising to kill

tens of thousands of criminals, and urging people to kill drug addicts. As Mayor of Davao City,

Duterte was criticized by groups like Human Rights Watch for the extrajudicial killings of

hundreds of street children, petty criminals and drug users carried out by the Davao Death

Squad, a vigilante group with which he was allegedly involved.

Despite earlier pronouncements in front of the media and public crowds, Duterte has

denied any involvement in the alleged vigilante killings, and said that the Davao Death Squad

does not exist. According to a spokesman, Duterte does not support or endorse the extrajudicial

killings of drug suspects. Foreign affairs secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. stated that Duterte "has

always ensured that there will be investigations of any allegations of extrajudicial killings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Drug_War

On October 18, 2016The Senate committee on justice and human rights is all set to clear

President Duterte of alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings in his bloody war on drugs, as

“nothing was proven” during the committee’s inquiry, the panel’s chair said on Monday.

But Edgar Matobato, the confessed hit man who testified that he took part in extrajudicial

killings in Davao City during Mr. Duterte’s two-decade term as mayor, is expected to take a

beating from the committee.

First of all, I did not call on any witness other than the local police,” said Sen. Richard Gordon,

the committee chair.

“Definitely, there are many killings. To be fair, there [have] been many killings even

before, that [have] not been resolved. That’s the bigger problem. It is just now more noticeable

because the President is noisy about it,” Gordon said, referring to unresolved killings during the

Aquino administration.

Gordon, a known Duterte ally, added that he did not think the killings in Mr. Duterte’s

war on drugs were state-sponsored.

During his presidential campaign for Malacañang, Mr. Duterte bragged about his iron-fist

rule in Davao City and promised to scale it up for the entire country if he were elected president.

He promised to kill tens of thousands of criminals and dump their bodies in Manila Bay,

where the fish would grow fat feeding on them.

Mounting body count.

Last month, as the United Nations and international human rights groups called global

attention to the mounting body count in Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs, Sen. Leila de Lima, then

chair of the justice and human rights panel, opened an inquiry into the alleged extrajudicial

killings.

She presented Matobato, who claimed to be a member of a death squad that Mr. Duterte

formed to kill criminals in the city.

He said Mr. Duterte ordered the killing of about 1,000 suspected criminals and carried

out one of the slayings himself.

Matobato admitted to taking part in about 50 of the killings.

Police clean-up job.

But before De Lima could establish the link between the Davao murders and the current

drug killings, Mr. Duterte’s allies in the Senate stripped her of the chairmanship of the

investigative committee. Gordon was elected in her place.

clean-up job by police.

“The fact that there is a new policy, a new sheriff in town saying we will not fool around,

the fact that the President is saying we are at war against drugs, that he unmasked five police

generals [allegedly involved in illegal drugs], opened the dam for the police to kill those

involved in drugs,” Gordon said.

“I believe many police officers are involved there. But is that state-sponsored? No. It’s

just that they are the ones taking action,” he said, adding he would put that finding in his

committee report.

Matobato is expected to be held liable for lying under oath, and for the murders he had

publicly admitted. “He might face perjury charges at the very least. And, at the most, they will

have to look for murder charges against him, because he admitted [to killings]. We will submit it

to appropriate authorities for proper disposition,” Gordon said. Matobato is out on bail on illegal

weapons charges in Davao City. The police will not be spared, Gordon said. “They will take a hit

here,” he said.

Gordon terminated the hearings last week despite De Lima’s pleas for other witnesses to

be presented by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to be given a chance to be heard.

De Lima said it was premature to end the inquiry. “I want to see the report again so

that… I will decide what I will do. Will I dissent? Will I sign? But that’s why I don’t like that the

proceedings have been terminated. To me, it’s still premature. Because why are the other CHR

witnesses not given the chance to be heard?” she told reporters, referring to victims’ relatives

who have filed complaints in the CHR. “Any conclusion that the killings are not state-sponsored

to me would also be premature,” De Lima said. newsinfo.inquirer.net/826311/senate-panel-set-

to-clear-duterte-on-extrajudicial-killings#ixzz4SdlYb2HT 

On December 12, 2016 Tension flared between Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and

Richard Gordon when a joint committee report that found no proof of state-sponsored killings in

the country was reported out to the plenary on Monday.

investigation on the alleged extrajudicial killings in the country, joint with the Senate committee

on public order and dangerous drugs chaired by Senator Panfilo Lacson.

Before opening the floor for interpellation, Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto

III put on record that Gordon “took exception” by Trillanes’ action when the latter pointed at him

while entering the session hall.

Sotto said Trillanes told him that he pointed at Gordon simply to convey his desire to

question him about the committee report. But when he was recognized to ask questions about the

report, Trillanes did not mince words when he attacked Gordon and the committee report.

“To be honest I was almost impressed by the sponsorship speech. Almost because it

sounded like an opening statement for the counsel, for the defense of President Duterte,” said

Trillanes, a known critic of President Rodrigo Duterte. “At any rate the bottom line of the

committee report is wala raw. Ito ang aking problema e because the whole world e naalarma na

sa nangyayari sa ating bansa pero dito sa committee na sya ang instrumento na maglabas ng

katotohanan ay naudlot dahil abruptly hininto ang.”

“Sabi wala daw ebidensya. Hindi walang ebidenysa, kundi maaaring hindi ka nag-

imbestiga so yun ang aking pananaw ditto. The senator added.

Trillanes noted that when the joint panel started the probe, there were 3,000 people

reported to have been killed in the government’s war against illegal drugs.

But at present, as the report was reported out to the plenary, he said, the number of deaths

had reportedly doubled.

“So ano ito? Coincidence [or] pestilence [that hit our country]? Kaso ito open sources;

you don’t even need to dig deeper; open sources would show that you have video recordings of

admission to include the campaign promises, and actual policy pronouncements of President

Duterte [to] kill Filipinos in this drug war,” he said.

Trillanes did not also buy the authorities’ claim that those killed in the anti-drug

operations had resisted arrest. “Ito na yata yung pinaka-maraming nanlaban sa ating law

enforcement history na in six months, 3,000 yung nanlaban na kumabaga you have to be
monumentally stupid na manlaban ka pa rin na alam mong pinapatay ka. He also protested the

findings of the joint panel that he committed unparliamentary acts when he allowed confessed

killer and witness Edgar Matobato to leave the Senate premises in one of its hearings without the

permission of the body.

Trillanes said he already explained to the body and even to Gordon, in private, that

Matobato had to leave the premises for security reasons. He also denied apologizing to Gordon

when he went to the latter’s office after the Matobato issue. “Sinasabi nya na ako daw pumunta

sa kanyang opisina at nag, well let me state for the record, Mr. President, hindi ako nag-

apologized. Sinabi ko pasensyahan tayo. Don’t lie, Senator, because yan ay bad behavior,”

Trillanes said. “Ang sabi ko pasensyahan tayo at very passionate tayo so ganun na lang yun. And

akala ko gentleman yung kausap ko, we even shook up hands and we parted amicably,” he said.

Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon had to suspend the hearing to ease the

tension between the two senators. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/

So the big question of the Filipino right now is “When will this “EJK” stop. And I think

we do know now the answer to that question as President Duterte after saying he never ordered

summary executions, Mr. Duterte on Monday night (December 12, 2016) said the extrajudicial

killings of drug suspects in the country would only stop if people involved in the narcotics trade

would refrain from their illicit activities.

“They say there have been a lot of killings, ‘salvaging’ and extrajudicial killings. You

want this to end? It’s simple. All drug users should stop,” the President said at the oath-taking

ceremony of the People’s National Movement for Federalism.

“Stop it and there will be a very peaceful New Year and Christmas,” he added. “You

must stop. If you stop, you will never hear any reaction from me.”

Moments before his speech, the President said at the awarding rites of The Outstanding

Filipino that he was “not a killer.” “I do not relish or enjoy a Filipino sprawled there with all the

blood,” he said. “You know every time I decide on things to buy guns and bullets, there is

always in my mind that these things would be used against the Filipinos.”

The President said he was still keen on making the streets across the country free from

drug addicts and petty criminals despite the criticisms from human rights groups and religious
organizations. He then asked the priests to leave their churches and go to the communities and

reach out to drug dependents in need of rehabilitation and treatment.

Said Mr. Duterte: “To the critics, you’re better off going to the neighborhood and finding

out who are hooked on drugs. To the priests, spend time with the people and find out who are

affected.” “You are better off giving them advice how to seek treatment,” he said.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/853014/duterte-drug-killings-will-stop-if-narco-dealers-stop-trade

By these matters, the people in the Philippines are now terrified for the reason that they

might be killed on the road at any time and be one of the victims of extrajudicial killing even if

they are innocent or they might be a victim of mistake of identity.

The people should be more vigilant for them to protect themselves. We all know that

freedom to live is one of our natural rights. At the end of the day the life of the people, innocent

or not, is all that matters and the Government should protect, with all cost, all the people under

its state.