UP raises questions on safety of young Filipinos in current war on drugs

he University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman on Wednesday said that the deaths of Carl Angelo Arnaiz and Kian delos Santos – both in the hands of police authorities – raises “questions about the safety and welfare of young Filipinos in the current war on drugs.”

In an official statement issued by the UP Diliman through the Office of Chancellor Michael Tan, the University joined the family of the 19-year-old former UP Diliman student “in mourning his death” and called for “immediate justice” for him and his family.

UP also compared Arnaiz’s death to that of Delos Santos, the 17-year-old Grade 12 student who was killed during an anti-drug operation in Caloocan City on August 16.

“Carl’s life circumstances are so similar to that of Kian delos Santos, another extrajudicial killing victim murdered just two days before Carl, raising questions about the safety and welfare of young Filipinos in the current war on drugs,” the UP said.

UP also expressed regret on the untimely death of Arnaiz who will turn 20 on Nov. 15.

The University noted that Arnaiz “was consistently at the top of his class throughout his elementary years in a public school” and at the Makati Science High School. In his senior year he took the tough UP College Admissions Test (UPCAT).

“Of the 83,000 who took the exam, 3800 made it into UP Diliman, including Carl, who enrolled as a BS Interior Design student for one semester during the school year 2014-2015,” the UP said. “He stopped schooling because of problems with depression, but was intent about returning to UP,” the University added.

Like Delos Santos, Arnaiz’s mother is also an overseas foreign worker (OFW). “His mother describes him as a homebody who disliked going out,” UP said. “He lived with and was taking care of his maternal grandmother, and a younger cousin [and] using remittances from his mother, who has been working in Dubai for seven years, he started a small sari-sari store,” the University administration added.

Citing reports, UP said that Caloocan City police claim that at around 3 a.m. on Aug. 18, Arnaiz used a gun to hold up a taxi cab driver along C3.

The driver reportedly sought police assistance and Arnaiz was shot to death supposedly because he had fired at the police and “nanlaban” (resisted arrest). The police also claimed they found marijuana in his pockets and shabu in a backpack.

UP also noted that it was not until Aug. 28 that a funeral parlor contacted Arnaiz’s family asking if they could identify the remains of an unknown male. “The Public Attorney’s Office has since reported results of an autopsy showing that Carl was tortured before he was killed, in a kneeling position,” the University said. “There was no evidence that he had fired a gun,” it added.

On Tuesday, Arnaiz was laid to rest on at the Aliw Cemetery in Pateros City.