Opposition solons hail guilty verdict for cops in Kian slaying

Opposition lawmakers from the House of Representatives on Thursday hailed the conviction of three policemen involved in the killing of 17-year-old Kian Loyd Delos Santos in an anti-drug operation in Caloocan City last year.

In a statement to reporters, Magdalo party-list Representative Gary Alejano said that the verdict shows that there is still hope for the country.

"Ito ay simula pa lamang ng ating laban para sa hustisya at hindi dito nagtatapos ang lahat dahil marami pang mga naging biktima ang Oplan Tokhang. We must hold the perpetrators and enablers of crimes against humanity accountable,” he said.

Judge Rodolfo Azucena Jr. of the Caloocan City Regional Trial Court Branch 125 found Police Officer 3 Arnel Oares and Police Officers 1 Jeremias Pereda, and Jerwin Cruz guilty of murder in the August 2017 slaying that outraged the nation.

The three officers were cleared on the charge of planting of evidence and of illegal drugs charges for the prosecution's failure to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Alejano said the conviction is "historic" as it is the first time policemen were found guilty of crimes in connection with the Duterte administration's war against drugs.

Alejano was one of those who filed a case against President Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court, citing crimes against humanity supposedly committed under the administration's campaign against illegal drugs.

"The alleged drug crackdown has taken the lives of people, mostly the poor ,while big-time personalities are still at large. The conviction of the policemen just affirmed the involvement of government forces, particularly the Philippine National Police," he said.

"We must take the necessary actions to hold him accountable since it seems like the President has co-opted our institutions already. This is a step towards ending impunity in the country,” he added.

For his part, Akbayan party-list Representative Tom Villarin hopes that the conviction will generate more prosecutions, trials and confessions on the part of the PNP.

Villarin added that even as the police are only pawns in the war on drugs, they must suffer the consequences of their actions.

"While the PNP seems to be making progress with its internal investigations, it must realize that those who survived the war against drugs—the children, parents, spouses, or siblings of the dead—deserve more than seeing the killers relieved and reassigned on duty," he said. 

"Our PNP should fully accept this verdict and start re-orienting the institution to abide with the rule of law and human rights. Only then can justice and accountability be made into a reality," he added. — BM, GMA News