De Lima files bill to criminalize extrajudicial killings

Senator Leila de Lima filed a bill seeking to define and criminalize extrajudicial killings and obligating the government to conduct an investigation into such incidents.

Senate Bill No. 1842 was filed by De Lima on September 22.

“Four years since the promise to win the drug war in three to six months was made – the promise remains unfulfilled, but the killings still persist, the air is still pervaded by the stench of cold blood, and the streets still are the playground of trigger-happy villains who slay without end,” the senator said.

“As Filipinos grappled to survive the world’s longest quarantine, the killers roamed more freely – unchecked, without legal ramifications, and with even more impunity. While the people stayed in their homes as they were told, the bloodshed lingered like a virus so potent that the killings rose by half,” De Lima said.

The senator also alleged that the COVID-19 pandemic was also “used as a scheme to continue to perpetuate the brutal crackdown on activists and environmental defenders,” citing recent killings of Karapatan paralegal Zara Alvarez and Anakpawis leader Randall Echanis.

The proposed bill, adopted from a paper of the UP Law Center Institute of Human Rights, will define EJKs and other terms.

The said bill defines EJK as “the unlawful or arbitrary killing or arbitrary deprivation of life committed by State agents or non-State actors,” who are either “acting under actual or apparent authority, or color of law, or upon the instruction of, or under the direction or control of, or by policy, order or behest of, the State in carrying out the conduct.”

SB No. 1842 also imposes penalties on principals and accessories of the crime.

“One of the most salient provisions is the section that provides for a prima facie case for arbitrary deprivation of life and presumption of liability. This provision would be a powerful deterrent that would make the perpetrators of EJKs think twice before pulling the trigger because they could no longer hide behind the flimsy excuse of impulse,” De Lima said.

The bill also seeks to establish a Human Rights Violations Victims Fund which can provide compensation for the victim or his/her legal heirs.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Camilo Pancratius Cascolan however said earlier this month there is no such thing as extrajudicial killings.

The PNP chief said those who have information about alleged EJKs must come to authorities so that their reports could be investigated and cases could be filed against suspects.

"First, if you have that notion, come to me, we will investigate. Number two, there's no such thing as EJK. Wala naman 'yan eh. Everything, the people, the PNP has fought hard to really reduce illegal drugs and it's a survival for our people," Cascolan said.

"There's no such truth when it comes to EJK because EJK sabi ko nga state-sponsored, will the President sponsor state killing? No. Will other people in the government do that? I don't believe so," he added.

The anti-drug war of the Duterte administration has been criticized by local and international human rights groups as it is being linked to extrajudicial killings.

Critics of the drug war said the number of slays increased to more than 27,000 while law enforcers estimated the number of slain drug suspects to 6,000.

Cascolan is the co-author of the reinvigorated Oplan Double Barrel under the government’s war on drugs, which focused on high-value targets.

De Lima first proposed a law (SB 1197) defining EJKs and providing the penalty of life imprisonment without the benefit of parole for such acts in 2016.

She again refiled the bill as SB 371 under the 18th Congress in 2019 but this did not progress beyond the committee level. —KG, GMA News