39 U.N. member-states express serious concern over PH drug war

MANILA - Thirty-nine member-states of the United Nations have expressed serious concern over alleged extra-judicial killings ocurring amid the Duterte administration's drug war.

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-Asia) on Thursday said the member-states urged the Philippines to probe the killings and protect human rights defenders through a joint statement issued by Iceland.

The member-states urged the Philippines to "cooperate with the international community to pursue appropriate investigations into these incidents, in keeping with the universal principles of democratic accountability and the rule of law."


The Philippines did not fully accept more than half of the recommendations it received during the 36th session of its Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Forum-Asia reiterated Human Rights Watch's call for the U.N. Human Rights Council to step in and end the violent drug war if the Philippines will not comply with its international human rights responsibilities.

"If the situation in the country does not improve, the UN Human Rights Council must pass a resolution at its next session in March, establishing an international, independent investigation into killings associated with the 'war on drugs'," Forum-Asia executive director John Samuel said.

The following countries signed the joint statement: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, UK, Ukraine, and United States.

During the UN General Assembly, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano insisted that the Duterte administration's war on illegal drugs does not violate human rights and does not tolerate abuse of cops. 

"The Philippines’ comprehensive campaign against illegal drugs is a necessary instrument to preserve and protect human rights of all Filipinos. It is never an instrument to violate any individuals' or groups' human rights," he said.

Latest police estimates placed the number of drug suspects slain in legitimate police operations at 3,800.

The Duterte administration has repeatedly denied that extrajudicial killings are state-sponsored.--Report from Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Cop links colleague to Kian shooting

MANILA - One of three police officers linked to the shooting of 17-year-old Kian Delos Santos pointed to his colleague as having shot the teenager during the August 16 operation in Caloocan.

Speaking before a Senate inquiry, PO1 Jerwin Cruz said it was PO3 Arnel Oares who shot Delos Santos based on the ballistic report.

"Sa operation, magkakasama po kami," Cruz said under questioning by Sen. Manny Pacquiao.

Oares, meanwhile, refused to answer until he had consulted his own lawyer.

An investigator who prepared the spot report of the shooting said all 3 police officers - Cruz, Oares and PO1 Jeremias Pereda claimed it was Delos Santos who first drew a gun and fired.

Asked if they confirm that Delos Santos had a gun, Pereda said they could not see because it was dark.

"Sir, kasi po madilim nun, hindi namin alam kung…kasi pinutukan niya lang po kami," he told Senator Bam Aquino.

"Alam po naming na baril yun, Sir, dahil malakas yung pagkakaputok. Nakita na rin namin na may kapirasong ilaw dun," he added.

According to results of the autopsy by the Public Attorneys Office (PAO) forensic laboratory, Delos Santos sustained a gunshot wound to his back, to the back of his left ear, and one inside his left ear.

The location of the gunshot wounds to his ears showed that Delos Santos was on the ground when he was shot, the office said.

This was later contradicted by the PNP Crime Laboratory, which said Delos Santos sustained two gunshot wounds to the head, in his left ear.

It confirmed the downward trajectory of the gunshots but stressed that the direction does not automatically mean that the teen was on the ground when he was shot, as claimed by a forensic scientist from PAO.

Public outrage has been growing over Delos Santos' death, which has been decried as a summary execution under the administration's war on illegal drugs.

President Rodrigo Duterte has also said those liable would be answerable and put in jail if a rubout is proven. 

At the start of the hearing, all 3 policemen linked to the killing refused to answer questions from senators for lack of legal counsel.

Cruz and Pereda later agreed to testify after Atty. Faye Dizon, a lawyer from the Senate's Legal Counsel, was tapped to temporary represent them on Thursday.

During the hearing, Sen. Pacquiao said the refusal of the 3 cops to answer questions makes them look guilty.

"Kung hindi kayo magsasalita rito, ang taumbayan nanonood ngayon, guilting-guitly na kayo. Ito yung pagkakataon na ipaliwanag nyo yung part ninyo. Ito ang pagkakataon na pwede ninyong sabihin na hindi lahat ng ginawa ninyo ay mali," he said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Freelance photojournalist wins Pulitzer for images on killings in Philippines

Campaign reporting that exposed misleading claims by now US President Donald Trump about charitable giving and commentary about last year's divisive US presidential campaign won Pulitzer Prizes on Monday.

David Fahrenthold of The Washington Post won the national reporting award for what the board called "a model for transparent journalism" that cast doubt on Trump's assertions of charitable generosity.

Fahrenthold investigated not only Trump's claims of charitable giving but also disclosed that the Republican presidential candidate had boasted in crude terms of groping about women on tape in 2005.

The Pulitzer Prize for commentary went to Peggy Noonan of The Wall Street Journal for what the board called "beautifully rendered columns that connected readers to the shared virtues of Americans during one of the nation's most divisive political campaigns."

The coveted Public Service medal went to tabloid the New York Daily News and ProPublica for uncovering widespread abuse of eviction rules by the police to oust hundreds of people, most of them poor minorities.

The New York Times won the international reporting award for coverage of Vladimir Putin's efforts to project Russian power abroad, including assassinations online harassment and framing opponents.

The New York Times' C.J. Chivers also won the feature writing award for showing a Marine's postwar descent into violence.

Freelance photographer Daniel Berehulak won the Pulitzer for breaking news photography for images published in The New York Times showing killings amid the Philippines' war on drugs.

The Chicago Tribune on the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for portraying a 10-year-old boy and his mother striving to put the boy's life back together after he survived a shooting in Chicago.

The East Bay Times of Oakland, California won the breaking news category for covering a warehouse party fire that killed 36 people and exposing city failures to take action that might have prevented it.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

PH drug war makes it to TIME Magazine's top 10 photos of 2016

MANILA – A photo of a child crying over the casket of her father, allegedly the victim of a drug-related killing, was among TIME Magazine’s top 10 photos of 2016, cementing the Philippines’ war on drugs as among the world’s most "striking and lasting" topics, for the public and media alike.

The image shot by New York Times photographer Daniel Berehulak captured the anguish on the face of Jimji, 6, as she cried out for her father during his funeral in October this year.

Berehulak was in the Philippines to photograph President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign. He went to the wake of supposed drug dealer Jimboy Bolasa, whose body was found under a bridge in Navotas City in September, along with the corpse of another man.

 According to reports by two broadsheet newspapers, the police had yet to determine the identity of the killer, and his motive.

However, regardless of the police’s investigation, what mattered to Bolasa’s family was that he was gone—a grief that was demonstrated by his child, who Berehulak said “kept on screaming until she was overcome, fatigued” during his journey to the church for funeral rites.

Berehulak confessed to struggling to get through a sequence of similar photos that he took, because of the sense of loss he got from Bolasa’s family, as well as the helplessness of similar victims.

“It’s absolutely crippling to see that image and to see that little girl experiencing so much pain and loss; to know that her father was never given a trial, never had the opportunity to defend himself in front of a court,” Berehulak wrote.

There were 2,755 drug-related fatalities in the Philippines from May 10-December 20, according to data from the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group. These included those killed by unidentified assailants and police operations, as well as bodies found away from a crime scene.

Other photos that made it to TIME’s list were of Ieshia Evans’ arrest during a protest for the shooting of Alton Sterling by Baton Rouge police, a coup de etat in Turkey, citizens affected by government airstrikes in Syria, a photo of Air Force One arriving in Cuba, a rescue in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya, refugees at a camp in Greece, US president-elect Donald Trump delivering a speech while perched on a chair, "world’s fastest man" Usain Bolt at the Olympics, and a view of a snowstorm over the US East Coast from the International Space Station.

source: news.abs-cbn.com