Davao City: The Bloodbath Continues
191 drug suspects killed by vigilantes since 1998

The extra-judicial killings in Davao City, which victimize mostly minors, are increasing, especially after the Arroyo administration declared its “war against drugs.” But Davaoeños are slowly starting to realize not only the futility of the carnage but the damage it is doing to their society. Will this be the beginning of the end of the madness down south?

By Carlos H. Conde and Rolando Pinsoy
Bulatlat.com Mindanao Bureau

She said that one day in 1996, her eldest son was forced by three men to buy P500 worth of drugs. Next thing she knew, he was dead, killed by the infamous “Davao Death Squad” (DDS). Weeks before the murder, she was told that her son should be careful because the DDS was watching him.

Beside the woman during the CASE launching was another distraught mother, Clarita Alia, whose story – her three teenaged sons were killed by the DDS in the past two years – has made her the “poster mother” for those who oppose the summary executions that are bedeviling this city, a city that prides itself of being child-friendly. She’s on a crusade now to find justice for her boys.

“They say the DDS does not exist. That is not true. Richard, Christopher and Bobby were killed by the DDS. We know who the DDS is. The police are protecting the DDS,” she said.

Increasing trend

DDS or not, there is no question that this city’s descent to madness is not about to stop. In fact, human-rights groups and child-advocates have noticed a trend: immediately after the announcement of the Arroyo administration’s campaign against drugs, the killings in Davao City increased.

Worse, other cities in the country have apparently been emboldened by the experience of Davao City. Reports the past weeks indicate that death squads have also been operating in other areas of the country. Data from the various groups that form CASE reveal that 191 people have died in the hands of vigilantes since 1998. That year, only two were recorded. This increased to 16 the next year and dropped to 11 in 2000. In 2001, the number increased to 29 and shot up in 2002, with 60 victims.

So far this year, from January to July 16, the number of victims has reached 73 – the highest ever in just seven months. And CASE says it has reason to fear that the number will increase. In the first week of July alone, 12 people were killed, allegedly by the DDS. (CASE, by the way, is composed of more than a dozen non-government and people’s organizations in Southern Mindanao.)

Anti-drug campaign

According to the coalition, the trend of the killings directly corresponds to the “campaigns” both by the local and national government. For example, Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte declared last year the intensification of his campaign against drug. He did the same thing this year, especially after President Arroyo publicly praised the campaign in Davao City and appointed Duterte as her anti-crime consultant – a move seen by human-rights groups and children’s advocates as an endorsement of the extra-judicial killings.

While Duterte has never directly admitted that he created the DDS or ordered the killing of suspected criminals, particularly drug pushers and users, his public statements – often broadcast in his TV program on the local ABS-CBN – are unmistakable support for the carnage. He would admonish parents to watch what their kids are doing. In colorful street language, he would curse drug pushers and would warn them to mend their ways or else they’d end up in hell.

But, to his critics, that is just the problem – the extra-judicial killings have not achieved their purpose, which is to eliminate drugs in the city. The local police itself grudgingly admitted recently that illegal drugs are still a big problem in the city and that, by the mayor’s own admission, many Davaoeños are still into drugs.

Anti-poor

Then there’s the matter of class. According to Kadamay, one of the convenors of CASE, practically all of those who died came from the urban poor.  Said Inday Duterte, chairperson of Kadamay in the city: “The government should be held directly accountable for the proliferation of drugs. There is no adequate livelihood and social services for the poor, that is why they easily succumb to drug use. The problem is that, the government is doing a shortcut by killing these victims while protecting the big-time druglords in the process.”

Indeed, not one of those who died in the hands of the vigilantes can be classified as a big-time druglord. This prompted the National Democratic Front in the region, with which Duterte had established a good relationship over the years, to come out with a statement indirectly condemning the mayor. “While the lowly drug pushers and users are punished, the state is sparing the bigtime druglords, thus absolving them,” said Ka Oris, the NDF’s spokesperson in Mindanao.

“Vigilantism as a form of state terrorism tries to dissuade our youth from drugs through fear of death. This is because the legitimate processes of the reactionary state are losing by default to stop the flow of illegal drugs right from its very source – the big-time druglords and their international connections.  The state is corrupt and lacks the political and moral credibility to fight the problem,” he added.

Fr. Amado Picardal, who attended the CASE launching on Wednesday, said “you cannot solve a crime by committing another crime.” The killings, he said, are a violation of human rights. “By all means let’s fight drugs but we must not violate the law. Even criminals have human rights,” he said.

Public support

These are strong and emphatic words – but, to Duterte, CASE organizers said, they mean nothing. It is his mission, he said, to clean up Davao society. He has the support, he has said time and again, of the public.

On that point, the mayor may be right. Except for the militant, human-rights and children’s groups, the rest of Davao society has been silent about the killings. On radio morning shows, people would call in to express support for the mayor and disgust for his critics. “You deserve to die” is a line that is all too familiar in these shows, referring to the suspected criminals and drug pushers, most of whom are minors.

No doubt Duterte is enjoying all this support. Practically every time he is interviewed on the subject, the mayor would tell his critics to either help him fight drugs or shut up. “If you have ideas about solving the problem, come to me and let us work together. Otherwise, if the only thing you know is march on the street with your placards and criticize me, you better shut up,” he said in his program last week.

Political tool

The extra-judicial killings have in fact become a political tool of sorts for politicians like Duterte. He ran on the peace-and-order platform, promising to rid Davao City of criminals. A protégé of his, Benjamin de Guzman, won because of Duterte’s endorsement and because he promised to do the same thing Duterte did, and de Guzman did. Under their watch, dozens of minors have died – apparent victims of vigilante justice. Truth be told, Davao City is a relatively safe city. But, child advocates want to know, at what price?

The CASE convenors, in a manifesto, bewailed the acceptance by the public of extra-judicial killings and their leaders’ exploitation of this for political ends. “Lamentably,” CASE said, “the acceptance of some sectors in this kind of measure affects the morality of our society particularly concerning preservation of human life and human dignity.”

Perhaps as a result of this tolerance by the public, the police have not made any significant headway in its investigation of the DDS – assuming that they are convinced that there is a DDS in the first place.  Last week, during a city council hearing on the summary executions, city police director Conrado Laza told councilors that there is no such thing as a DDS. These killings, he said, were committed by rival gangs and rival drug dealers.

Clarita Alia and the other woman who was at the CASE launching took exception to Laza’s statement. “How can they say that there is no DDS when my sons were threatened by these people who have connections to the police?” she said.

The woman who wanted to know if the killings are part of President Arroyo’s policy against crime took offense at the notion that there is no DDS or that the police don’t know who these killers are. “When Duterte was running for mayor, he went to our village and promised to clean it of criminals if he was elected,” she said. “He was elected and my son died.” Bulatlat.com

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