End killings, former CHR chief appeals in forum
More than a year since she called for an investigation on the deaths linked to the campaign against illegal drugs, a former chief of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) still awaits answers.
Loretta Ann “Etta” Rosales, speaking in a forum in Cebu City yesterday, said that President Rodrigo Duterte’s statements are linked to the fact that nearly 7,000 persons died in the first six months of this administration.
She recalled the President’s promises to the police that he would support them if they get sued as a result of their oper- ations. Rosales served as CHR chair from September 2010, replacing Leila de Lima, until May 2015.
Last Tuesday, 119 members of the House of Representatives reduced the CHR’s budget for 2018 to P1,000. The Senate, however, approved a separate budget of P625 million, and the matter will now depend on the bicameral conference committee.
Rosales said in the forum that the CHR is now investigating 3,271 murders linked to the war against illegal drugs.
Former Commission on Human Rights ( CHR) chairperson Etta Rosales yesterday said the rampant killings in the country are encouraged by President Rodrigo Duterte.
From July 2016 to January 2017, their data showed that 2,555 suspected drug personalities were killed.
In the same period, she said, a total of 4,146 people were murdered outside police operations. Some 3,271 murder cases are under investigation, mostly by the CHR.
To support her claim of Duterte-inspired killings, she said the President assured the police that he would support them if cases are filed against them.
Rosales was invited to speak in the forum “So Ano na?” organized by lawyer Vincent Isles of Silent Majority Cebu at Ecotech Center, Lahug, Cebu City.
Rosales said they support the advocacy of the bishops, priests and peace-loving people to “Stop the Killing, Start the Healing.”
Lawyer Democrito Barcenas yesterday said that the estimated 500 people of Silent Majority Cebu oppose illegal arrests and killings.
Barcenas, who was imprisoned for three months during martial law under the late President Ferdinand Marcos, believed that more people will soon come out in the open to voice their opposition to the abuses.
“We cannot be silent anymore in the face of oppression. We cannot be silent anymore in the face of injustice. We cannot be silent anymore in the face of extrajudicial killings. And we will fight to the finish to defend democracy,” Barcenas said.
The lawyer said that the greatest enemy of democracy is apathy or public indifference.
They are silent even if their neighbors are shot dead because it's not happening to them, Barcenas added.