Days ahead of Undas, relatives of victims of extrajudicial killings (EJK) in President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war campaign gathered in Caritas Manila on Saturday, October 28, to launch the Rise Up for Life and for Rights (Rise Up) Metro Manila. They also lighted candles to remember their slain kin and their continuing call for justice.
During the launch, the Rise Up Metro Manila aired out their condemnation to the enduring killing spree under the war on drugs scheme of the Duterte government. Relatives of EJK victims turned emotional as they air testimonies and recounted the killing incidents of their loved ones.
Despite pronouncements that the Oplan Tokhang of the Philippine National Police (PNP) had officially ended as anti-drug operations would now be carried out by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the group insisted that the killings did not stop.
“As the old saying goes, ‘Actions speak louder than words.’ Recent cases of killings after the termination of the Oplan Double Barrel or Tokhang only show that PDEA ang kakatok, PNP ang puputok (PDEA will knock, PNP will shoot),” says Rev. Dionito Cabillas, Iglesia Filipina Independiente priest and convenor of Rise Up Metro Metro Manila.
Cabillas also told kin of EJK victims that “the formation of Rise Up Metro Manila would serve as their tool in fighting for the collective rights and for the pursuance of justice for all the victims of senseless killings which now exceeded the 13,000 mark.”
The Rise Up Metro Manila also said that they would be participating in the “national healing walk” from EDSA Shrine to the People Power Monument that the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) called for on November 5. The activity aimed to pray for the victims of EJKs.
On the same day, various groups under the broad alliances of the Movement Against Tyranny, Youth Movement Against Tyranny, Stop The Killings Network and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan among others would also be holding a parallel activity in Caloocan City.
Over the past months, Caloocan City became the epicenter of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Oplan Tokhang or their implementation of the war on drugs of President Rodrigo Duterte. Caloocan cops were the main suspects of the killing of 18-year old Kian Delos Santos, 19-year old Carl Arnaiz and 14-year old Reynaldo ‘Kulot’ De Guzman in drug war operations.
According to Cabillas, “The protests would not stop as the killings continue. As world leaders and the international media arrive in the country early next month for the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and East Asia Summit (EAS) meetings, the Duterte administration must brace itself for series of actions by relatives of EJK victims across the country that would expose further the gross human rights violations in the Philippines.”
“We are no longer afraid. We have had enough,” Cabillas ended.
