A Church-led Truth Commission on extrajudicial killings (EJK) of thousands of alleged drug suspects during the war of drugs of the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte was launched last week, aiming to document the killings, identify the victims, help their families find closure, and recommend the prosecution of the law enforcers responsible for the killings.
The commission, independent of the government, was launched by civil society with Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David as adviser and prominent personalities as members, including former International Criminal Court judge Raul Pangalangan (chair), forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun, human rights journalist Carlos Conde, Dr. Al Fuertes, and Fr. Daniel Franklin Pilario.
“This is an opportunity for a catharsis… so we can recover our dignity as a country,” David said, describing the commission as long overdue. He said the commission will focus on documenting the victims’ stories and helping their families and even repentant law enforcers find closure.
“Ultimately, what we aspire for is healing not only for the victims, but also for our institutions,” he said.
The cardinal was a leading voice against the EJKs, which even earned him death threats from then-President Duterte, when he was bishop of the diocese of Caloocan, which he described as the “ground zero” of EJKs.
One question the commission aims to answer is how many people were actually killed in the drug war, as the figures vary wildly. The government says ‘only’ 6,000 to 7,000; the United Nations reckons 18,000; and human rights watchdogs say it was up to 30,000.
With Duterte already in a detention center in the Hague, the Netherlands, awaiting trial for crimes against humanity before the ICC, is a truth commission still necessary? Pangalangan pointed out that for the ICC, acquittal or conviction of the accused and reparations for the victims would be the end of the process. “For us, however, our goal is to establish the truth hand in hand with the victims,” he said.
Evidence gathered through the commission could also help prosecute those directly involved in the drug war’s implementation who have not yet been held accountable.
If the truth commission can get the cooperation of the government, particularly the Philippine National Police that was somehow transformed into a vicious killing machine during the drug war, Filipinos and our damaged institutions can acknowledge what actually happened during that dark time in our history, work together to deliver justice for the victims, and hopefully put in place the safeguards that will guarantee that it will never be allowed to happen again.
The killings of thousands of Filipinos who were denied the protections of the law and the country’s justice system cannot be simply swept aside and forgotten. The truth, no matter how ugly it may be, has to be uncovered, and our people have to recognize it and learn from it if we are going to have a chance at becoming a better country.*
