Mourners in Kian funeral march cry justice, stop drug killings

People joining the funeral march of slain student Kian Loyd delos Santos in Sta. Quiteria, Caloocan City, show posters and others signs to denounce the drug-related killings. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA / Phil. Daily Inquirer

“Justice for Kian, stop the killings.”

This was the chant of hundreds of supporters who joined Saturday’s funeral march of Kian delos Santos, the 17-year-old boy who has become the poster child of the campaign against the government’s bloody war on drugs.

The mourners, mostly the victim’s Caloocan neighbors, wore shirts printed with black ribbon and carried flowers and placards denouncing the drug-related killings as they inched the narrow alleys from Sta. Quiteria Church in Caloocan City to the boy’s final resting place in La Loma Cemetery in Manila.

Delos Santos was killed on August 16 for allegedly fighting against the police in an anti-drug operation in Libis Baisa, Barangay 160, Caloocan City.

However, two separate autopsies by the Public Attorney’s Office and the Philippine National Police (PNP) Northern Police District Crime Laboratory showed the boy was shot at close range while slumped with his face down.

READ: Kian autopsy points to ‘intentional killing’

PAO already filed murder and torture charges against four policemen involved in the operation, including Caloocan City Police Station 7 head Chief Insp. Amor Cerillo, Police Officer 3 Arnel Oares, PO1 Jeremiah Pereda, and PO1 Jerwin Cruz.

Delos Santos’ death has drawn criticism from both allies and critics of President Rodrigo Duterte. It has sparked public outrage against the government’s violent campaign against illegal drugs, which has claimed thousands of suspected drug criminals. JPV