House leadership urged to probe EJKs following ‘nanlaban’ poll result

The House of Representatives and the Senate on Saturday convene in a special session to tackle the request of President Rodrigo Duterte to extend the martial law in Mindanao until the end of the year. Photo by Marc Jayson Cayabyab, INQUIRER.net

Militant lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc on Wednesday reiterated their call for the House of Representatives leadership to investigate the extrajudicial killings following survey results which showed Filipinos expressing disbelief that drug suspects killed in police operations fought back.

The lawmakers made this reaction to the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, conducted June 23-26, which showed that 54 percent of respondents agreed to the question:  “Marami sa mga pinatay ng mga pulis sa kampanya laban sa ilegal na droga ay hindi totoong nanlaban sa pulis. (Many of those killed by the police in the anti-drug campaign did not really fight against the police.)”

Meanwhile, 20 percent said they strongly agreed, while 25 percent was undecided. Only 20 percent disagreed to the statement.

READ: Majority of Filipinos do not believe police’s ‘nanlaban’ claim 

Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao said the lower House could have looked deeper into the survey results had the leadership allowed previous resolutions calling for a legislative inquiry into the killings of drug suspects and even minors in the administration’s war on drugs.

“We could have validated deeper the survey kung pinayagan ng leadership ng House (if the House leadership allowed) our efforts to conduct a legislative inquiry in aid of legislation. Bahagi sana ‘yun du’n sa gusto nating malaman, sa nais nating bigyan ng legislative action (That was part of what we wanted to know and what we wanted to provide legislative action),” Casilao said.

Lawmakers have called for investigations into the extrajudicial killings, including that of 17-year-old Kian Delos Santos, who was suspected by the police as a drug courier and killed for allegedly fighting back.

While the Senate has conducted its own probe, the House leadership has yet to schedule a hearing following the filing of resolutions calling for an investigation in aid of legislation.

READ: Why can’t the House prioritize probe into drug killings? – opposition solons

The survey results were also significant because it showed majority of Filipinos do not believe in the police version that slain drug suspects fought back, Act Teacher Rep. Antonio Tinio said.

“Mahalaga din ‘yung results sa survey na ‘yun. Pinapakita na mayoriya ng mga Pilipino ay hindi naniniwala sa istorya na nanlaban (The result of that survey is significant. It shows that majority of Filipinos don’t believe the story that those killed resisted arrest),” Tinio said, adding that the spate of human rights violations was the ”consequence” of President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal war on drugs. /idl