122 Filipino children killed in war on drugs: NGOS

GENEVA: At least 122 children have been killed in the Philippines’ war on drugs — often deliberately, two non-governmental organisations said on Monday, urging the UN to take action.

The NGOS fear that the true figure is way higher, they said in a report, as the United Nations Human Rights Council prepares to assess the situation in the Philippines.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s hardline antidrugs campaign has come under fire from rights activists who say police are encouraged to use lethal force on drug suspects and thousands have been killed since 2016.

Monday’s report, entitled “How Could They Do This To My Child,?” was jointly published by the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the Children’s Legal Rights and Development Center ( CLRDC, Philippines).

The report documents 122 killings of children, aged from one to 17 years old, between July 2016 and December 2019, throughout the country.

“The 122 is only the tip of the iceberg; there may be many more in the country,” OMCT secretary-general Gerald Staberock told reporters in a virtual briefing.

FISHING BOAT COLLISION: Fourteen Filipino crewmen went missing when their fishing boat collided with a Chinese-flagged vessel off the island province of Occidental Mindoro in Southern Luzon, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) confirmed on Monday.

Commodore Arman Balilio, the PCG spokesman, said the collision involved the fishing boat Liberty 5 and Vienna Wood, a cargo vessel registered in Hong Kong, considered a special territory of China.

Since the rescue operations resumed on Monday, there were no significant findings particularly in the discovery of the 14 missing fishermen, Balillo said.

Based on initial investigation, Baliio said the incident occurred at dawn on Sunday off the town of Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro. At that time, he said the fishing boat was bound for the Navotas City fish port in Metro Manila where it was to arrive on Sunday morning.