Rights lawyers, religious groups unite vs. 'Tokhang 2,' to file first EJK case next week

Human rights lawyers joined hands with religious groups Friday to openly oppose the relaunching of the government's anti-illegal drug war and at the same help families of those killed in police operations.

The National Union of People's Lawyers (NUPL) said it is collaborating with a coalition of church-based groups called Rise Up for Life and for Rights, led by the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), to provide legal assistance to the families of slain suspects and victims of human rights violations.

Ephraim Cortez, NUPL secretary general, said they will file the first extrajudicial killing case on March 14. The case, according to him, involves the killing of a father and son by policemen in Bagong Barrio, Caloocan City.

"Hindi naman po tayo against sa ginagawa ng administrasyon na wakasan na talaga itong droga sa ating bansa. And yet hindi tayo sang-ayon sa paraan na ginagawa ng gobyerno. Sa ngayon ilang libo na po ang napapatay sa drug-related na gawain," Rev. Grace Masegman of Iglesia Filipina Independiente said.

"Ang Simbahan po ay dapat hindi magpiring ng kanyang mata sa nangyayari ngayon. Kung wala pong kikilos para sa mga taong ito, sino pa po ang inaasahan nila? Saan pa po sila lalapit? Saan po sila tutungo? Sino pong gagabay sa kanila kung hindi ang simbahan," she added.

The Philippine National Police, after a month-long suspension, has relaunched its anti-illegal drug campaign dubbed "Double Barrel Reloaded, Tokhang Revisited," which has been blamed for the deaths of over 7,000 people, most of them drug suspects.

"Tokhang," a failure

Church leaders, who believe the first phase of "Oplan Tokhang" was a failure, said the government should instead find other means to address the problem on illegal drugs.

"The Philippine National Police 'Tokhang' more than failed: not only did they fail to eradicate the drug means, but they created another layer of suffering, terror, erosion of trust, and outright proliferation of another crime, especially in poor communities," Fr. Gilbert Billena of the Order of Carmelites said.

The coalition said they were able to gather documentations on the victims of the drug war and other human rights violations.

"Ang 'Rise Up' ang kumausap at nagkalap sa mga biktima at nagdocument ng mga kaso. Mahirap dahil nagsimula sila sa scratch. Wala silang pagsisimulan kung hindi testimonya mismo ng mga biktima at mga testigo. Napakadali sana neto kung mayroong credible and competent police investigation, subalit wala neto," Cortez said.

"Walang tulong ang gobyerno na siya dapat ang pangunahing institusyon para magsagawa ng imbestigasyon para makagawa ng kaso. Tanging ang Rise Up ang gumawa ng documentation para dito," he added.

Rise Up has gathered testimonies from the families of the victims and witnesses of the drug war. They, however, have completed the documentation of one case so far due to lack of evidence in the others. —KBK, GMA News