Press Release
September 5, 2016

STATEMENT OF SEN FRANCIS PANGILINAN ON DRUG KILLINGS
AND DUE PROCESS

When Mary Jane Veloso was to be executed in April 2015 after being convicted in Indonesia for bringing in 2.6 kilos of heroin, the entire country rallied behind her and vigorously opposed her execution. The Filipino people saw her as a victim of international drug syndicates preying on her poverty and luring her with the promises of money she desperately needed.

Today, we now see over 2000 drug peddlers/addicts being killed in broad daylight, the vast majority of whom are poor and destitute. Many of them have likewise been lured into becoming couriers and peddlers because of their poverty and the promise of money by drug syndicates many of which are run by corrupt policemen and local politicians.

In April 2015, we saw Mary Jane Veloso as a victim who was taken advantage of and exploited and thus undeserving of death. Today, we see the local peddlers and couriers who, like Mary Jane are impoverished, as criminals who are less than human and who deserve to be put to death. What happened to us?

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