The uncle of Kian delos Santos, the 17-year-old killed by the police during the war on drugs of the Duterte administration, said Monday that he lost his job and was banished by the community due to the false claim of then Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa that he was involved in the illegal drugs.
“Napatunayan po namin sa korte na si Kian ay hindi nanlaban at pinatay. Intensyon ng pinatay ng mga pulis. Mga ilang araw, habang nakaburol ang aking pamangkin, naglabas po ng kasinungalingang statement ang pamunuan po ng PNP (Philippine National Police), pinamumunuan ng ating kagalang-galang na Senador, Bato dela Rosa. Ang sabi po doon sa statement ay ‘yung tatay daw po at ‘yung uncle [ni Kian delos Santos] ay kilala sa aming lugar na siga, kinatatakutan at nagbebenta ng droga at ginagamit po si Kian delos Santos bilang tagapagbenta nito,” Randy delos Santos said during the Day 1 of the Senate probe on the drug war.
(We have proven before the court that Kian was killed by the police. And during his wake, the PNP, then led by now Senator dela Rosa, released a statement containing a lie. It said that Kian’s father and uncle are known tough guys in the area, drug traffickers, and using Kian to sell drugs.)
He said they are known in their area as members of a religious group.
“Tagapangulo, kilala po kami sa aming lugar pero hindi po konektado sa iligal na droga. Kilala po kami bilang mga Saksi ni Jehovah na nagbabahay-bahay, kumakatok sa mga pintuan, at nagbabahagi ng salita ng Diyos. Tinanggal po ako sa trabaho [dahil roon]. Binalot ng takot ang aming pamilya dahil kami po ay namarkahan na nagbebenta ng droga,” Delos Santos added.
(We are known in our place but not as connected to illegal drugs. We are known as members of Saksi ni Jehovah who goes house-to-house to evangelize. I was fired because of that statement. Our family was stricken with fear because we were marked as drug traffickers.)
Delos Santos, serving as the field coordinator of Project Paghilom which is a support group for the families of the victims of the drug war, also lamented why police officials involved in the killing of drug suspects were never investigated during the Duterte administration.
“We [in Project Paghilom] are composed of 312 families. All of us our victims, families of people who were killed in their houses. Nobody was investigated for these killings, and the police are even making the families sign an affidavit that they won’t be suing the police for the deaths of their loved ones,” he said.
In response to Delos Santos, Dela Rosa said “I cannot remember, Mr. Chair.”
Former President Rodrigo Duterte and other top officials of his administration are already being investigated by the International Criminal Court in connection with the alleged commission of crimes against humanity for systematic drug war deaths in police operations during his tenure.
These deaths reached around 6,000 based on police records, but human rights groups contend that the deaths reached as much as 30,000, including vigilante killings, due to Duterte’s policy.
The former chief executive and the Duterte administration’s officials, however, have always denied that killing people at whim is a government policy.
Likewise, Duterte has insisted that the Philippines is not under ICC jurisdiction due to Manila’s unilateral withdrawal from the Rome Statute in March 2019.—AOL, GMA Integrated News
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