CHR condemns killing of survivor of EJK attempt as he was being treated in hospital

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Thursday condemned the murder of a  man who survived an EJK attempt, with the man shot dead while he was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Angono, Rizal on Wednesday.

Vincent Adia, 27, was being treated for gunshot wounds when a gunman barged into the Rizal Provincial Hospital System Annex in Barangay San Isidro and shot him twice, killing him.

“The brazenness of the attack is utterly reprehensible—a desecration of the very facility where the sick and wounded are supposed to be treated and saved,” CHR spokesperson Jacqueline De Guia said in a statement.

“Amid the suffering in this period of [the] pandemic, it is disheartening that extrajudicial killings still persist,” she added.

The CHR said Adia had first been shot three times by unidentified gunmen and left to die in a gutter with a piece of cardboard that said he was a pusher.

Police authorities said the victim was supposed to be transferred to another hospital. When authorities left to pick up his relatives, the gunman appeared and shot him.

“We harp again our repeated plea to the government to concretely address the continuing atrocities and vigilante killings,” De Guia said.

“With the government's recent expression of openness to cooperate with international mechanisms in improving the human rights situation in the country, we hope and expect that cases of extrajudicial killings will be truly curbed and tackled with utmost urgency,” she added.

For its part, the CHR Region-IV said it has sent a quick response team to investigate and monitor the case. — Joahna Lei Casilao/BM, GMA News