MANILA, Philippines?(UPDATE) Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairman Leila de Lima hit hard against the Davao City local government for its failure to stop the vigilante-style executions in the city.

De Lima said this "brand of criminality" was no different from the extrajudicial killings that gripped the country under the Arroyo administration.

"How different... is vigilantism from extralegal killings? It isn't," De Lima said in her opening remarks at the opening of the two-day public inquiry into the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS) by the CHR en banc at the Royal Mandaya Hotel in Davao City.

In attendance was Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, known for his hard-line stance and provocative statements against criminals.

De Lima's speech was emailed by the CHR office to Manila-based reporters.

De Lima pointed out that extra-judicial killings have been defined by the Supreme Court as killings done "outside of regular judicial proceedings."

She said that since the death penalty has been abolished, there was no way that there could be any state-sanctioned executions.

"Finer definitions include the element of governmental policy at any level aimed at eliminating certain individuals as opposed to arresting them, and commission of killings by the state or unit of the state or condoning the same, with the act being deliberate," De Lima said.

She added: "You have watched how the various segments of society have banded together to find a way to solve activist and media killings... You have all seen the consensus of the Filipino people against extralegal killings, against executions."

De Lima said the CHR might have been branded as a "toothless tiger," but it was ready to use all its persuasive powers to find answers as to why the killings went unabated and the culture of impunity persisted.

Its commitment, she said, would be the same as its efforts in looking into the killings of activists and journalists.

"More than the statistics, and more than putting an end to vigilante killings, this probe seeks to save the psyche of the Davaoeños ? to remove this terrible stigma over their city, to lift the fear for their own rights and for their own lives. We seek to instill the assurance that when you commit a wrong, you will be deprived of your liberty by a court of law, not deprived of your life by gun-toting scalawags," she said.

De Lima scored the Davao City local government for taking pride in the city's peace and order when killings occurred almost on a daily basis.

"If it were so peaceful and orderly, had it not occurred to anyone how paradoxical it is to make such a claim while killings remain rampant? It is completely incongruous to say it is peaceful and orderly when vigilantism is so commonplace, so pedestrian, it is almost a way of life around here," de Lima said.

She added: "I dare say, and warn everyone who wishes to visit this city, that peace and order is not a quality of Davao City."

De Lima also said that the police, prosecutors, and local government officials in Davao City could not admit ineptitude "since all of them openly announce how peaceful and orderly the city is."

"So if it is not ineptitude, what then accounts for the predominantly unsolved vigilante-style killings in this city? We need to know. We must know. You must tell us," she added.

The CHR's investigation into the DDS was the first conducted by any government agency since the first mysterious deaths attributed to the vigilante group in 1998.

She also urged Davaoenos who oppose the summary executions to speak out against "the dreadful specter of the Davao Death Squad... and be part of the solution of human rights protection."