Press Release
August 29, 2016

GORDON SLAMS DEAFENING SILENCE ON RIDING IN TANDEM KILLINGS

With the ongoing debate over alleged extra-judicial killings arising from the Duterte administration's war against illegal drugs, Senator Richard J. Gordon slammed the deafening silence in the past on killings perpetrated by persons riding in tandem on motorcycles or what is also known as riding in tandem killings.

Gordon pointed out that despite the proliferation of riding in tandem killings, there has been little noise about the issue over the last ten years, questioning the Commission on Human Rights about its marked silence on the matter.

"...Sinasabi natin unexplained killings, let me ask the Commission on Human Rights. 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," he said.

The senator noted that due to the high number of incidents of journalists' killings, the Philippine has been proclaimed as the murder capital for journalists in the whole world. Judges, lawyers and policemen have also become easy targets for riding in tandem assassins and yet there has been no reaction from the commission. The senator said "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."

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.

"We keep quiet. But because we have a noisy President right now, I don't condone what he said 'Papatayin kita. Because ayaw kong gagayahin ng bata iyong, Doon lang siya pumapalpak para sa akin. Pero hindi siya palpak pag sinabi niya, 'Itong mga pulis na ito, ilabas natin.' Ito yan, at least may ginagawa. Pero iyong wala tayong ginagawa, iyong mga pinapatay, lumalabas na preso, pinapatay ang tao tapos ibabalik sa preso, wala tayong ginagawa doon sa mga naka-motorsiklo, binabaril ang tao, wala tayong ginagawa. So the silence is deafening. And we must all work together as a nation to lift the silence on this matter," Gordon said.

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