Palace to EU: Give PH a chance to probe Calabarzon killings

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Thursday appealed to the European Union (EU) delegation here to give the government a chance to investigate the killing of nine activists in the Calabarzon region last Sunday.

The EU earlier said reports on the use of excessive force against unarmed individuals and alleged irregularities in the law enforcement operations have “raised concerns.”

“I ask the EU to please give the Philippines a chance to discharge its obligation to investigate, punish and prosecute those who may have breached our domestic laws,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a Palace briefing.

“We are undertaking and discharging the state obligation to investigate prosecute and punish,” he added.

Imelda Evangelista, 55, on Wednesday points to the spot where her son, Ariel Evangelista, and his wife, Chai Lemita-Evangelista, were shot dead by police officers in Barangay Calayo,
Nasugbu, Batangas. The Evangelista couple was among the nine activists killed in simultaneous police-military raids in the Southern Luzon region on Sunday. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Last March 7, nine individuals, identified by rights groups as mere activists, were killed in simultaneous police operations in the provinces of Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite.

Despite progressive groups condemning the killings, the Philippine National Police maintained that the activists engaged police and soldiers in armed confrontations or resisted arrest, or“nanlaban” in Filipino.

The Commission on Human Rights and the task force on extrajudicial killings headed by the Department of Justice have vowed to investigate the killings

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