Killer in BBC report may be fake–Cayetano

It’s hard to imagine a woman walking up coolly to drug lords in Manila and pumping .22 cal. bullets into them with a Hammerli 280, a la Bridget Fonda in “Point of No Return.”

That’s just action movie, and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano thinks the Aug. 26 British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) report about the Filipino contract killer Maria is intended to “discredit” President Duterte’s war on drugs.

For one thing, if Maria is real, why did she come out, knowing the risk to herself, as her police handlers can easily identify her?

“Whoever got that report should be made head of the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation), or head our investigation body because it is brilliant that out of 100 million Filipinos, you will find someone to confess to being a gun for hire and point to the [Philippine National Police],” Cayetano said.

Cayetano, the defeated vice presidential running mate of Mr. Duterte in May’s national elections, spoke to reporters after delivering a privilege speech in which he lashed out at the negative portrayal of the administration’s war on drugs in the international media.

“There is an international effort to discredit the Duterte administration,” he said, pointing out a “disconnect” between what is being reported and what is actually happening in the Philippines.

“I am not disregarding that report, that should still be investigated. But it’s just a wonder why, first of all, guns for hire don’t just confess,” he said.

“We have to be cautious not to allow ourselves to be used. I’m not saying it’s not true, but it’s just too brilliant,” he said.

Maria’s story

In the BBC report, Maria (not her real name) confesses to carrying out contract killings as part of Mr. Duterte’s brutal campaign against illegal drugs.

She is part of a hit team that includes three women, who are valued because they can get close to their targets without arousing the same suspicion a man would, according to the BBC’s Jonathan Head.

Since Mr. Duterte took office, and urged police and armed civilians to kill drug dealers who resisted arrest, Maria claims she has killed five people, shooting them all in the head, bringing her kills to six after the first job she did two years ago, Head said.

Head said he asked Maria who gave the order for the hits, and she replied: “Our boss, the police officer.”

Maria’s husband is also a contract killer for the police and they earn up to P20,000 per hit, which is shared between three or four other people whose roles Head does not describe in the report.

Head said that on the afternoon he met Maria, she and her husband had been told that their safe house in Manila had been exposed. They were moving in a hurry.

According to Head, Maria regrets being a hired killer and wants to quit after one last job.

But her boss has threatened to kill anyone who leaves the team. She feels trapped, Head said.

The BBC report echoes a theory that Sen. Leila de Lima’s committee on human rights that is investigating the spate of extrajudicial killings in Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs is looking at: that police are using hired guns to erase their links to the illegal drug trade.

The PNP and the Department of Justice have not commented on the BBC report.

PNP Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II have not responded to calls and text messages seeking comment on the report.

‘Naturally doubtful’

Cayetano said he was “naturally doubtful.”

“There are a million people who would like that story to be true, or who would offer a fake [story] to discredit the antidrug war, and the drug lords will do that,” he said.

Cayetano said the international community should be circumspect about passing judgment on Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs.

“My appeal to the international community—come to the Philippines, enjoy our hospitality, look how peaceful our communities have become,” he said.

“If there are abuses, help us get rid of those abuses. But they are not state-sponsored. You are welcome in our country, but ask first before you criticize,” he said. With reports from Vince F. Nonato and Cynthia D. Balana