WHAT IS EXTRAJUDICIAL IN EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS: A POSITION PAPER

Introduction In the campaign of the Duterte administration against illegal drugs, human rights advocates and the unnumbered
critics of this government have decried of extrajudicial killings. Many have expressed and even criticized and accused the
President for human rights violation. The intensive war against the proliferation of the illegal drugs in all places in the country
has called the attention of the many Filipinos both political leaders and ordinary citizens. It also has drawn flaks among
international community leaders, international organizations, and peoples from around the world. Condemnation of the anti-
illegal drugs battle is mostly due to and centered to violation of rights to life as many have wept. Rightfully the government’s
intention is to eradicate illegal drugs in all sorts in the country. It’s striking that this sovereign drive has been associated with
extrajudicial killings and worst the state’s critics and political opponents have accused the President of committing and
endorsing killings without due process. Also, the United Nations and European Union have urged the country’s head of state to
stop the extrajudicial killings.
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.

At our regular village Sunday mass last week, I was listening intently to the parish priest’s homily as he discussed the
importance of being vigilant about what was happening in the Philippines. He kept talking about the importance of the Fifth
Commandant ‘Thou shall not kill’ and how it is relevant to what is happening on a large scale these past few months. I think he
was trying to remind us not to turn a blind eye to the rising numbers of deaths in just the past two months.
Obviously, many knew that a rise in death toll might come to pass. Those who voted for President Rodrigo Duterte counted on
him and his hard stance against crime and drugs to “clean the streets,” as it were, of drug pushers, syndicates, and would-be
criminals. And just two months into office he appears to have kept his word. As they say, “change has come indeed.” However,
we also have to stop and ask ourselves at what cost?
I have supported President Duterte’s stand against criminals. I understand where he is coming from and we most definitely
have to start making sure Filipinos feel safe in the Philippines again. After all, for too long those who break the law would go by
unpunished and as a result more and more criminals are emboldened to do as they please because they don’t fear the
repercussions. There are many aspects of the president’s solution to violence and crime that I can understand and even
support. Placing curfews on teenagers, alcohol consumption, and more are smart preventive measures.
However, having said all that, I don’t believe that “shoot to kill” is the best way to achieve the goal of a safer country. When did
fighting fire with fire ever actually work in the long run? There has to be a better middle ground. If the president’s mandate of
shoot to kill is followed what we would end up with are even more vigilantes walking the streets with a convoluted sense of
‘wild wild west’ justice. This is not the way to make things safe again. In fact, things might get even more dangerous.
I understand wanting to clean the streets for our families, but turning a blind eye to what is happening right now just because
we it feel it doesn’t apply to us is wrong. It might seem that way now, but in the end it will come back to haunt us. What
happens when one day it’s someone we love being wrongly accused and gunned out without a proper trial? Or worse, what if
we, or someone we love, become collateral damage in a random shoot-out? It’s not far-fetched considering the way people are
reacting to the president’s mandate.
Read more at https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2016/08/10/1611958/no-extrajudicial-
killings#jTD7cOVZoMRJtQ12.99https://www.philstar.com/authors/1777201/tony-katigbak
Just last week, a Party-list congressman in the House called on law enforcers to investigate the alarming growing rate of extra-
judicial killings and prosecute the killers in the government’s ongoing campaign against illegal drugs. After all, killing is just as
punishable an offense as drug use right? One will not stomp out the other. The representative reiterates that the government
can’t just stand idly by while unidentified gunman posing as police roam the streets and kill people with impunity. If we let that
go, it will only be a matter of time before it gets completely out of hand.
In fact, the “bloody war on drugs” in the country has already made headlines all over the world on news sites like Time, The
New York Times, Daily Mail, and so many more. In the short span of time that the Duterte administration has proclaimed their
war on drugs, over 500 people have been killed. These “pushers” or “addicts” were executed in the name of the war on drugs
but were never given due process or any chance to prove their innocence. In many instances a simple cardboard sign was
placed by the victim with the world “Pusher” written on it.
Is this what our country has come to? Killing someone and making a claim of their guilt on cardboard is enough to make it okay?
We can’t allow this to become the norm. What’s to stop someone from killing an enemy that may or may not have had
anything to do with drugs and just claiming they are a pusher or an addict after the fact? At that point they won’t be able to
defend themselves and it will be too late.
I’m sure we all remember the case of pedicab driver Michael Siaron who was shot while looking for a final fare for the evening
on the streets of Manila. After pausing to grab an apple, Siaron was targeted by gunmen on motorcycles who pumped him full
of bullets before riding off. His wife, who heard the shots, ran to the scene and pushed past the police to cradle her husband’s
lifeless body on the asphalt. The photo has been circulating traditional and social media and has since become “a modern day
Pietà of the Manila slums” as eloquently put by The New York Times.
These people, many of whom are the ones who put Duterte in power because they were desperate for change, don’t always
have a voice. We need to help be their voice. We all deserve justice. I believe that those who are guilty should be punished,
however, due process has to be observed. We need to live in a world governed by law. In fact, over the weekend, Vice
President Leni Robredo also made it clear which side of the fence she is on when it comes to summary executions. She is
grateful that the President has made several statements saying the rule of law and due process would be honored but she
insists that the killings have to stop and enjoins both the public and the media to help drive this message home.
We all want to live in a safe society. We want to be able to raise our children in a safer world. I commend the president on his
mission to stamp our crime, drugs and violence in the Philippines. On that note, we are all aligned in wanting a better country.
However, there has to be a way to do this while letting due process and the rule of law prevail. I remember the Latin legal
phrase – “Fiat iustitia ruat cælum,” which translates into “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.” Fair justice should
always prevail, especially when lives are at stake.
University of Fraser University
The extra judicial killing are without evidence or warrant of arrest by killing people who use drugs. Extrajudicial killings and
forced disappearances in the Philippines are illegal liquidations, unlawful or felonious killings in the Philippines. Extrajudicial
killings are most commonly referred to as “ salvaging “ in Philippines. Extrajudicial killings is also synonymous with the term.
Extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances are unique in the Philippines in as muchas it is publicity and commonly known
to be committed also b non-state armed groups such as the new peoples army and the moro Islamic liberation front.
EJK: Is it the answer to change?
By: REY ADRIAN SUMUGATIn the verge of the campaign of Duterte’s
administration against illegal drugs, humanrights advocates and the unnumbered critics of this government have decried of
extrajudicialkillings. Many have expressed and even criticized and accused the President for human rightsviolation. The
intensive war against the proliferation of the illegal drugs in all places in thecountry has called the attention of the many
Filipinos both political leaders and ordinary citizens.It also has drawn flaks among international community leaders,
international organizations, and peoples from around the world. Condemnation of the anti-illegal drugs battle is mostly due to
and centered to violation of rights to life as many have wept. Rightfully the government’s
intention is to eradicate illegal drugs in all sorts in th
e country. It’s striking that this sovereigndrive has been associated with extrajudicial killings and worst the state’s critics and
political
opponents have accused the President of committing and endorsing killings without due process.Also, the United N
ations and European Union have urged the country’s head of state to stop the
extrajudicial killings.
As what Senator Allan Peter Cayetano stated during the Senate’s Committee on Justice
hearing on the alleged extrajudicial killings of law enforcers, everyone has to be lectured on whatis an extrajudicial killing. All
should have to know, what is really extrajudicial killing? When iskilling considered to be extrajudicial? Are all deaths in the
country extrajudicial? Or is it only themedia who has sensationalized the numbered deaths and framed the minds of the people
to theissue of non-judicial killings? What could be transpired from all the efforts of the government tostop the more than three
decades old problem on drugs? Is everything in the campaign reallyextrajudicial? Countless questions have puzzled every
citizen of the country and the humanityacross the globe. The countrymen including the people of the world need to be
rightfullyeducated of the whole truth. If extrajudicial has existed in the drive of the government, thenoffenders should be held
liable. For the inalienable right to life is constitutionally protected. Andit is the duty of the state to protect the rights of its
citizenry.Although the government has denounced publicly such extralegal execution and arguedthat such killings are
committed by non-state actors. The perpetrators of the numbered deathsrelating into illegal drugs is still at large. Investigations
and charging criminal cases to culpritsare not enough if there is such commission of extrajudicial execution.