CHR slammed for silence on riding in tandem killings

Senator Richard J. Gordon yesterday criticized the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) for its deafening silence on the killings perpetrated by persons riding in tandem on motorcycles.

Gordon said he wonders why the CHR has been silent on the issue despite the proliferation of riding in tandem killings over the last 10 years.

Even with the ongoing debate over alleged extra-judicial killings arising from the Duterte administration’s unrelenting war on drugs, there has been little noise about the issue.

“Let me ask the CHR: Ilan ba ang napatay na mga riding in tandem dito sa bansa natin? How come I don’t hear any noise that has been going on for the last 10 years? People riding in tandem shooting people down and we just keep quiet,” Gordon pointed out.

The senator also noted that due to the high number of incidents of journalists’ killings, the Philippines has been identified as the murder capital for journalists in the whole world.

He pointed out judges, lawyers and policemen have also become easy targets for riding in tandem assassins and yet there has been no reaction from the Commission.

“Even President Rodrigo Duterte has stated that when judges or policemen are killed, there is a breakdown or disrespect for the law and a breakdown in the peoples’ trust in the government,” he said.

Records show that at least 58 journalists and 19 judges have been killed by riding in tandems since 1986.

Gordon noted that a convicted drug lord who is already in jail masterminded an assassination and threatened a justice of the Supreme Court.

Gordon said authorities ought to do something more to address the killings done by riding in tandems as these are also considered done by vigilantes.

“So the silence is deafening. And we must all work together as a nation to lift the silence on this matter,” the lawmaker said.