Press Release
September 8, 2017

Sen. Leila M. de Lima's Statement on the killings of 14-Year old Reynaldo de Guzman and other child victims of the Drug War

Ang kahindik-hindik na sinapit ng 14 na taong gulang na si Reynaldo "Kulot" de Guzman - sinaksak ng 30 beses, binalot ang mukha at ulo ng packing tape, dinala sa malayong lugar, at itinapon ang bangkay sa isang ilog sa Nueva Ecija - ay malinaw na patunay na hindi manaka-nakang pangyayari kundi madalas at nagiging malawakan na ang pagpatay sa mga kabataan sa ngalan ng gyera laban sa droga. Kung tama ang pagbilang ng NGO na Children's Legal Rights and Development Center, sina Carl at Kulot ay pang-55 at 56 na biktima na ng ganitong uri ng pagpatay.

The killings and victimization of children and youth in this horrible drug war have been ongoing and growing even before the news reports about the slaying of Kian, Carl and Kulot came out. I recall, for instance, the case of the killings of 21-year old Jonathan Jervoso and his friend, Jervy Sta. Maria, 25, in Camarin, Caloocan City just after midnight of July 30, 2016. Having interviewed their parents, I included their story in my dissent to the Senate Justice Committee Report on the EJK probe. While Jonathan and Jervy, along with their 20-year old friend Dexter Perigel, were standing in front of a store in their neighborhood, three (3) motorbikes carrying two (2) riders each pulled up and showered the group with bullets. Jonathan and Jervy died on the spot, while Dexter managed to survive. When policemen arrived on the scene of the crime, they declared that the same was committed by the so-called Caloocan Death Squad.

It is preposterous and downright horrendous therefore for the President and his spin doctors to still claim that the killings of children and the young are isolated cases and do not form a policy. Malinaw pa sa sikat ng araw sa tanghaling tapat na sadyang tinatarget at pinupuntirya rin ang mga bata at kabataan sa mga patayan sa ilalim ng gyera laban sa droga. Kung bata ka, lalo pa kung mahirap, maaari kang maging sunod na biktima ng pagpatay ng pulis man o vigilante.

It is past high time to conduct prompt and impartial investigations, as well as effective prosecutions of all EJK cases, especially in light of this phenomenon involving child and young victims. I wish to remind government authorities that the Philippines ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), and the Congress has passed into law Republic Act No. 7610, "Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act", and Republic Act No. 9344 or the "Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006".

Article 6 of the UNCRC provides that State Parties, like the Philippines, recognizes that every child has the inherent right to life. This obligation requires from the government to undertake measures to provide protection against factors that threaten it, including violence in the community, which in the current country setting is exacerbated by the deficient policy design to address drug trafficking. Likewise, Article 19 of the UNCRC affirms the non-derogable nature of the right to life by explicitly obligating State Parties to take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to ensure that children are protected against violence. Kapos na kapos, kundi man walang-wala, na ginagawa ang kasalukuyang administrasyon upang ipatupad ang mga obligasyong ito.

Tama na ang mga patayan! Tama na ang pambibiktima sa ating mga kabataan!

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