Philippines’ Red August: PNP’s killing spree a contempt to Filipinos’ lives
By Iver Japson, Rhey Flores | edited 12/11/23; originally posted 19/08/23
It all occurred in August.
Six years on, the killings of Kian Loyd de los Santos, Carl Arnaiz, Reynaldo de Guzman, and now, Jemboy Salazar created a noise that would last a lifetime in Filipinos’ consciousness.
Kian was a 17 year-old senior high school student. As a Caloocan kid, he was described by his loved ones as neither having any vices, nor had misconduct. He was just a student who wanted to finish his studies. Besides, he had a dream of becoming a cadet of the Philippine National Police Academy. According to a 2017 report from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, his classmate described him as a supporter of the former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs — -an anti-narcotics advocacy which had used extrajudicial killing, primarily, as a form of force.
But Kian’s aspirations had been reduced to nothing. In the heat of the night of August 16, 2017, as he was just about to close their small sari-sari store, he was shot to death by the Caloocan Police. Before his untimely demise, he cited these words: “sir, huwag po,” and “tama na po, may exam pa po ako bukas.” With the clicking of the gun, his life and dreams ceased already. A year later, the cops who shot him, namely Police Officer 3 Arnel Oares and PO1s Jeremias Pereda and Jerwin Cruz, were found guilty of murder, and will spend their life behind bars.
Days later after Kian was killed, in the same year, Carl and Reynaldo, 19 and 14 respectively, were killed as well under the hands of cops. According to news reports, Carl was killed on August 18 during a shootout with the Caloocan police. 10 days later, after being missing, his body would only be found in a morgue in Caloocan.
Meanwhile, De Guzman, a companion of Arnaiz at that time before his killing, was found dead at a river in Gapan, Nueva Ecija on September 6. He was found floating in the river, and his head was wrapped in packaging tape. His father believed that De Guzman was killed so that he could not testify to Arnaiz’s killing.
Six years later, the killing happened again. Recently, Jemboy Salazar, a 17-year old Navotas teenager, was shot dead as well by the Navotas police. Living an ordinary life, he was about to board a boat when the police fired bullets at him. Later, his father, Jesse, cradled his dead son with his arms, wailing in intense grief and pain. Salazar, who suffered brain injuries due to shooting, and drowning, as he jumped to the murky waters to escape from gunfire, was laid to rest on Thursday. In connection with this, 27 cops under Navotas Police were relieved following the tragedy. Furthermore, the police’s body cameras were turned off during the operations, according to a Rappler report. The body cameras were intended to be used for recording police-related operations.
It turned out, Jemboy was not the suspect the police force was looking for — indeed, a victim of “mistaken identity,” as police claims, an excuse that would not be able to bring back his life again.
These cases are prime examples of how the Philippine National Police disrespects life, and the Government’s negligent, frail, and ill-fated approach to implement justice.
‘𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗗’
During his reign, the former President Rodrigo Duterte promised his government would wage war against narcotics. Back then, his iron-fist approach restored security amid vigilante killings and set up social services within Davao City when he was still a mayor yet crumbled into failure because thousands of innocent lives were killed, most of which were covered up by policemen.
In his first months as leader, an estimated 3,500 people were killed — nearly half killed in police operations. However, Duterte’s team managed to wash their hands before the killings outside the police. His top police officer, former chief executive and currently Senator Ronald dela Rosa, said the deaths should not be blamed on the Government. It cannot be argued that high top ranking police officials and policemen were given increased wages and upgraded machinery in order to improve their defenses and combat drug addicts and drug lords. It all stooped down to a failure as more drug users were killed, almost all were from poor and marginalized sectors of the society and drug lords are rarely penalized and jailed. Drug market and usage is a real and big problem yet Duterte under-signified the root causes behind this problem: societal indifference and attacking the drug trade from below through violence. When Duterte explicitly used the word “war”, he began to see fellow Filipinos as enemies to be destroyed rather than human beings worthy of protection.
All the deaths due to these extrajudicial killings, including of Kian’s, were blanketed as narratives of “nanlaban.”
Now under the rule of Marcos, the culture of violence continued in his first year of presidency, as the Navotas Police committed the killing of an innocent Salazar.
‘𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗖𝗧?’
With the Philippine National Police bearing the slogan “to serve and protect,” the killings only tarnished their reputation — when in fact, their execution of justice only victimized marginalized people. These barbaric situations done by the Police bore utter contempt to poor Filipinos.
On the other hand, Duterte’s assurance of protection on policemen paved the arrogance and rage of grunting voices for them to do their job within their respective duties resulting in a downright justice system and unclaimed justice for killings. It provided the very conditions for these atrocities to emerge and fester. It is even reckoning to understand that lesser punishment was given for their ‘kabaro’ who are guilty of their crimes. Impunity in which these murders occur and operate during investigation and documentation, that perpetrators are rarely brought to justice because the atmosphere of fear paralyzes mechanisms and responsible process. Perpetrators are protected from independent, prompt and thorough investigations by invoking procedures designed to ensure the protection and promotion of rights and freedoms. Philippine National Police (PNP) also underscored right groups’ independent investigation by denying the request for police records that is indicative of lack of transparency and impartiality in the policemen force’s internal processes. They even made intimidation in the autopsy report from Dr. Raquel Fortun, a forensic pathologist, who is investigating the victims of extrajudicial killings. It is high time to defund the police sector and make appropriation of the national budget to education, livelihood and agriculture that depicts a more sustainable and reliving condition.
However, condolences and financial assistance cannot fill up the emotional distress of families of victims of extrajudicial killings.
Refresher courses for the cops are not enough. If these forms of terror and bloodbath and the whitewashing of killings continue, the irregularities would not be terminated. Moreover, the police impunity must stop. The Government, as well as the Police which is the main enforcer of the law, should hold accountability.
These stories of innocent teenagers, such as Kian, Carl, Reynaldo, and now, Jemboy are just facets of extrajudicial killings — a culture in which innocent, petty lives were claimed by the cops through the use of violence. The month of August will always be a period of remembrance for teenagers whose lives were lost due to police brutality: Kian and Jemboy would always be 17; Carl, 19; Reynaldo, 14.
