MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has assured that it has already dispatched a team to investigate the killing inside a Rizal province hospital of a man who was recuperating after surviving an alleged attempted extrajudicial killing.
CHR Spokesperson Jacqueline De Guia said on Thursday its office in Region IV has already sent a quick response team to look into the death of Vincent Adia, a patient who was shot two times while he was still under the care of a hospital in Angono.
Reports on Wednesday showed that Adia managed to survive by playing dead even after being shot three times to the face. But after he was rescued and brought to a hospital for treatment, a gunman entered the emergency room and shot the victim dead.
“[CHR] strongly condemns this brutal killing inside a hospital. The brazenness of the attack is utterly reprehensible — a desecration of the very facility where the sick and wounded are supposed to be treated and saved. Amid the suffering in this period of the pandemic, it is disheartening that extra-judicial killings still persist,” De Guia said.
“For our part, the CHR Region-IV has dispatched a quick response team to investigate the case and monitor it to its just end,” she added.
CHR also called on the state to act on this issue as vigilante-style killings continue to occur amid assurance from the government that it is willing to cooperate towards improving the human rights situation in the Philippines.
“We harp again our repeated plea to the government to concretely address the continuing atrocities and vigilante killings,” De Guia noted.
“With the government’s recent expression of openness to cooperate with international mechanisms in improving the human rights situation in the country, we hope and expect that cases of extrajudicial killings will be truly curbed and tackled with utmost urgency,” she added.
The story of Adia first appeared on social media after a hospital staff who witnessed the event shared what happened.
The shooting was later confirmed by the Angono Police. Police chief Maj. Richard Corpuz said the incident occurred around 11:40 a.m. on Wednesday.
The Rizal Police Provincial Office also assured that an investigation is being conducted.
Even if the administration drew some praises for bringing the country’s huge drug problem to light, activists and human rights advocates have expressed concerns on the allegedly violent approach to the drug war.
President Rodrigo Duterte has already drawn criticisms for his supposed disregard of human rights, with some countries looking for greater scrutiny of the drug war.
However, the President has repeatedly assured that no EJK occurs in the Philippines — rather, the killings resulted from drug gangs fighting it out for territory and control. [ac]
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