Advocates of EJK victims clarify details on ordeal of ‘Aling Shiela’
RELATIVES OF EJK VICTIMS COMMEORATE ALL SAINTS DAY AND ALL SOUL’S DAY / OCTOBER 28, 2017
Relatives of the victims of extra-judicial killings under President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war light candles to commemorate their slain loved ones and call for justice during a gathering at Caritas Manila in Pandacan, Manila.
INQUIRER PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES
MANILA, Philippines — Advocates of extrajudicial killing (EJK) victims and their loved ones on Friday clarified facts surrounding the ordeal of “Aling Shiela,” who became a subject of vicious attacks online.
Supporters of former President Rodrigo Duterte criticized Aling Shiela as they believed that one of her sons, Ryan, was not a victim of EJK.
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Photos of the bereaved Caloocan City resident holding the picture of one of her sons circulated online.
She had raised a photo of her son Ryan during a picture-taking at a press conference on the alleged extrajudicial killings committed by the Duterte administration.
Later on, it was found out that Ryan actually died in 2024, or a few years after the former president had stepped down from his presidential post.
Rubliyn Litao, coordinator of Rise Up for Life and for Rights, said it was Rico, another son of Aling Sheila, and not Ryan, who was killed during the time of the previous administration.
Nevertheless, “two of her sons were killed,” Litao told INQUIRER.net over the phone.
The group is withholding the full name of Aling Sheila due to safety concerns.
“Rico was killed during the time of Duterte in 2020, and the other one (Ryan) in 2024,” she made the correction.
The two men were in their 20s when they died.
Litao clarified that Aling Shiela was with one of her children during the event when the photo was shot at a press conference on March 12.
She was holding Rico’s picture at first, and then, she had also raised the photo of her other son Ryan, who also got killed in a separate incident.
The pictures were reportedly switched by mistake during the time the photo was shot.
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More than 6,000 people were killed during Duterte’s war against illegal drugs, according to official government data.
But human rights watchdogs and the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor estimated the death toll was between 12,000 and 30,000 from 2016 to 2019.
They also alleged that many of these cases were extrajudicial killings.
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Duterte was arrested at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Tuesday (March 11) and has since been detained at the ICC in The Hague.
A day after Duterte’s arrest, the group held a press conference where Aling Shiela appeared.
Litao said the mother is undergoing psychosocial support, but she remains unfazed by the online bashing.
The group’s coordinator also urged social media users to stop their attacks against Aling Sheila.
“The fact is, she is the victim here. Whatever the time of death is, she still lost her sons,” Litao said.
“Mothers like Aling Shiela always tell us that they are coming out in the open because they don’t want other families to experience what they’ve been through,” she noted.
