CONGRESS on Monday forced to urgently pass a measure to establish an anti-drug policy based on health and human rights to prevent the state from engaging in another deadly drug war, as seen during the time of former President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
In a statement, party-list Representative Percival V. Cendaña said passing the bill will help protect citizens from “state-sanctioned violence” to curb drug trafficking.
“We need this ‘Kian Bill’ so that innocent people are not tortured. We need to stop Tokhang-style operations, illegal policing, illegal raids, and other forms of terrorism and brutality [in addressing the drug problem],” he said in mixed English and Filipino, referring to House bill No. 11004.
Mr. Cendaña named the initiative after Kian Loyd de los Santos, a young man who was killed while fighting drugs in 2017.
The Philippine government has estimated that more than 6,000 people have died under Mr. However, human rights organizations say the number of dead could reach 30,000.
The campaign of Mr. Duterte’s anti-drug campaign has been dogged by allegations of human rights abuses due to the killings of drug users and dealers, allegedly by the police and unknown assailants.
In 2021, the International Criminal Court (ICC) began an investigation into the campaign after it was criticized that the government of Mr.
The Philippines withdrew from the ICC in 2018, which took effect a year later.
In the same statement, human rights lawyer Jose Manuel “Chel” I. Diokno urged the Department of Justice to investigate the role of Senator Ronald “Bato” M. dela Rosa as police chief during the first two years of the drug war.
“The DoJ (Department of Justice) should look closely at Senator Bato’s role in this dark chapter of our history,” he said. “As the main architect of Tokhang, his issuance of CMC 16-2016, which calls for the neutralization of drug suspects, shows his complicity, which is further reinforced by Duterte’s public acknowledgment that he will punish these killings.”
The office of Mr. Dela Rosa did not immediately respond to a Viber message seeking comment.
The DoJ created a team last week to investigate EJK’s allegations under the previous administration. – Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
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