Rights groups mark August as ‘month of killings’ in PH

MANILA, Philippines — As they commemorated the first anniversary of the murder of activist Zara Alvarez, rights groups also marked August as the “month of killings” in the Philippines under the Duterte administration.

On Tuesday, more than 300 rights and civic groups and individuals signed a unity statement calling anew to stop President Duterte’s “murderous” antidrug and counterinsurgency campaigns, which have targeted innocents and activists.

The signatories include local and international rights and labor groups, ecumenical and environmental advocates, schools and universities as well as artist collectives.

“As August has come to be marked as a month of killings in the Philippines under the Duterte administration—an administration whose legacy is widespread killings, suffering families left behind, and state terror, we choose to mark August as a month of remembering and reckoning,” the statement read.

Deadly campaigns

Apart from Alvarez, the President’s twin antidrug and counterinsurgency campaigns have also seen the deaths of Kian delos Santos, 17; Carl Arnaiz, 19; Reynaldo de Guzman, 14, in 2017; as well as peace advocate and peasant leader Randall Echanis last year.

The groups called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute the President for alleged crimes against humanity.

In June, outgoing ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda sought judicial authorization to investigate the President’s war on drugs for alleged crimes against humanity.

According to their own tally, around 400 rights workers have been killed by the government’s counterinsurgency campaign from July 2016 to June 2021.

As for the drug war, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency officially recognizes 6,165 police-related deaths as of June 2021. Meanwhile, Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, chief of the Philippine National Police, said they would “immediately coordinate” with the Department of Justice after it finished its review of 52 police anti-illegal drug operations.

“The PNP welcomes this development and we will immediately coordinate with the DOJ to discuss the results of its review,” the PNP chief said.