MANILA, Philippines — The three recent cases of “riding-in-tandem” killings in the country is proof of the “breakdown in law and order in the Philippines,” the Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.
Researcher Carlos Conde cited the killings of church worker Salvador Romano in Negros Oriental, Dinagat Islands’ provincial board member Wenefredo Olofernes in Surigao City, and businessman Arnel Agustin from Cagayan province last Sunday.
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“These three cases highlight the breakdown in law and order in the Philippines,” Conde said in a statement.
“Guns for hire – whether paid hitmen or local government-linked ‘death squads’ – operate knowing that the risk of arrest, let alone successful prosecution, is minuscule,” he added.
He also quoted the police as saying that four people are killed by “riding in tandem” shooters daily.
Conde added that it would not be a “surprise” if many of the gun-for-hires are police officers as the police have “outsourced” killings since the Duterte administration’s campaign against illegal drugs have come under “increased global scrutiny.”
“‘Riding-in-tandem’ killings and the government’s failure to stop them are a daily reminder of the need for greater international monitoring,” he said.
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is poised to adopt a resolution on the human rights crisis in the Philippines, which Conde said will “put the government on notice” that it needs to “end the carnage.”
Twenty-eight nations have urged the UNHRC to take further action on the human rights situation in the Philippines amid allegations of violations. (Editor: Eden Estopace)
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