16 of 23 senators urge gov’t to stop killings, especially of minors

Sixteen out of 23 senators, some of them from the majority coalition, have called on the government to “stop the senseless killings,” especially of children and minors.
 
The 16 signed Senate Resolution 516 urging the Duterte administration to “undertake the necessary steps to stop the senseless killings, especially of our children, and to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, to determine the institutional reasons, if any, that give rise to such killings.”
 
The resolution cited the 1987 Constitution, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Juvenile Justice Act, among other laws and international agreements, to argue that the state must ensure children are protected from abuse and their rights respected.
 
The resolution said based on data from the Children’s Legal Rights and Development Center, at least 54 minors have been killed in police operations or vigilante-style killings since July 2016, the first month of the Duterte administration. It said in many cases, the targets were not the children but the adults they were with.
 
The resolution also cited the recent deaths of minors Kian Lloyd Delos Santos, 17, and Carl Angelo Arnaiz, 19, who perished at the hands of the police who argued that the two minors resisted arrest and tried to engage them in a shootout.

Also cited in the resolution is Reynaldo De Guzman, also known as “Kulot,” who was 14 when he was found dead in Nueva Ecija. He was last seen with Arnaiz.
 
The resolution also called on the Senate to launch an investigation of the spate of killings to determine if any “institutional reasons” are causing them.
 
The resolution was signed by Senators Francis Pangilinan, Bam Aquino, Joel Villanueva, Risa Hontiveros, Ralph Recto, Franklin Drilon, JV Ejercito, Antonio Trillanes IV, Sherwin Gatchalian, Panfilo Lacson, Grace Poe, Nancy Binay, Francis Escudero, Sonny Angara, Loren Legarda and Leila de Lima.
 
The senators who did not sign the resolution are Senate President Aquilino Pimentel, Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, Senators Richard Gordon, Cynthia Villar, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Gregorio Honasan, and Manny Pacquiao. —Nicole-Anne Lagrimas/KBK, GMA News