Vice President Leni Robredo issued her official statement regarding extrajudicial killings during her first month with President Rodrigo Duterte
She posted on her official Twitter page that she supports the president on his war against drugs and crime but she is concerned with the violence that comes with it.
She hopes that this war will not be at the expense of the innocent. She also fortifies the President's judgement as he has a background in law.
Since President Duterte took office, a reported 136 people were killed (as of July 11, 2016)
During the first 6 weeks, The Economist tabulated a "kill rate" of 9 people per week which is 4 x more than average.
Among the eight regions that reported extrajudicial killings, Region IV recorded the most number with 43, followed by Region III with 31 and Region 7 with 8.
Out of the recent 64 deaths, 10 are unidentified suspects and 6 are identified only by aliases. July 9 also posted the highest number of deaths yet at 24; the previous record was 19 deaths on both July 3 and 5.
Inquirer.net has published a "Kill List" which is an attempt to document the names and other particulars of the casualties in the Duterte administration's war on crime
Image via Inquirer
The Commission On Human Rights said that the average of extrajudicial killing is 10 suspects per day under Duterte Administration
CHR commissioner Robert Cadiz said on a report by GMA News
"If we do not speak, this will continue into the next six months, and then another six months, and another six months. Many innocent people would have lost their lives by then. And what if its already your kin, your son, your brother, your father, who is being killed? Saka ka lang magsasalita ng due process?"
Abuse of the cops?
The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) also addressed their concern because it is highly possible that the heightened killings could be from extreme pressure ordered to the cops due to the extremely short deadline.
"Alam po niyo itong marching orders na to is subject to abuse by the cops. In the process na nagko-comply sila sa eradication ng crimes [in] three to six months, ang nangyayari nasho-shortcut nila because yung pressure nasa kanila," VACC spokesperson Boy Evangelista said on a report on GMA NEWS
"Innocent until proven guilty"
The presumption of innocence is a person's legal right and is also regarded as an international human right under the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 11.
The burden of proof is thus on the prosecution, which has to collect and present enough compelling evidence to convince the trier of fact, who is restrained and ordered by law to consider only actual evidence and testimony that is legally admissible, and in most cases lawfully obtained, that the accused is guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
Billions of drugs seized since Duterte came into office
Php 900 M worth of Shabu or Methamphetamine were seized in Cagayan, reported by Philippine Star. It was buried knee deep in the compound where it was found. It was reported that the drugs came from overseas and not locally made.
A fishing vessel dubbed as a "Floating Shabu Lab" was raided by local authorities in Subic as it was suspected to be a Shabu laboratory instead of a fishing vessel, Rappler reports. 4 Chinese nationals from Hong Kong were arrested.
Php 1.5-B worth of Shabu were seized during separated raids in Paranaque and Las Pinas City by PDEA, GMA News reports.
Image via Philippine Star
