Philippines hitman is a woman – BBC report

MANILA, Philippines - The brutal turn of events in President Duterte’s war on drugs has become daily fare for international media, even spawning some suggestions that he – not illegal drugs – could be the real threat to the country.

A BBC documentary told the story of “Maria,” who carries out contract killings for a living; and “Roger,” a resident of Tondo, who is being hunted by authorities for drug activities. Both expressed regret – and fear for their lives – for the choices they made. 

“Maria” told BBC she felt guilty and worried that the families of her victims would come for her. She is part of a hit team that includes three women and had killed six drug dealers, shooting them all in the head. She and her husband earned up to P20,000 per hit, which is shared among three or four of them.

“Roger,” who is on the run, became addicted to shabu at an early age and worked for corrupt police officers to support his habit, BBC reported.

“As the body count soars, some say the real threat to the Philippines is not drugs but the President himself,” said an online article posted yesterday on TIME magazine’s website.

The article also mentioned that it was Duterte’s tough campaign against crime that got him elected as the President and that he has successfully convinced the public that the drug crisis is a major threat to the nation despite data otherwise. 

The Philippines is not listed in all columns of UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) survey of global reported crimes from 2003 to 2014, according to the TIME report.

UNODC records also showed that the highest ever-recorded figure for the prevalence of amphetamine use (expressed as a percentage of the population aged 15 to 64) in the Philippines is 2.35. In the US, the figure is 2.20.

“Duterte has succeeded in convincing large numbers of his people that drug use constitutes such an emergency that the very existence of the nation is threatened, and that only his rule can save the Philippines. It’s the oldest autocratic trick in the book,” the TIME report said.

Statistics showed the Filipinos are not “degenerates, who need to be protected from themselves” but “are mostly a nation of decent, sober-law-abiding and God-fearing people,” it added.

Further, the article pointed out that it was always the poor people in the barangays who pay the highest price because they are the ones who often get involved in drug markets due to low or absence of income.

The article narrated the death of Ricky Alaban, 45, who was gunned down in Malabon City on Aug. 5 and Restituto Castro, 46, who was shot dead on July 25 in Caloocan City by unidentified men.

Last Aug. 21, the New York Times published an editorial cartoon illustrating Duterte carrying a bazooka aimed at a worm-infested apple sitting atop the head of a man representing the Philippines.

Duterte’s war on drugs recorded 1,900 deaths, 10,153 drug dealers arrested, and 756 suspects killed since July 1 according to the Philippine National Police. 

Death of a girl

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) has denounced the death in Dagupan City of a five-year-old girl, killed by stray bullets intended for her grandfather.

The kindergarten student, Danica May, died from a gunshot wound to the head while her grandfather, Maximo Garcia was shot in the abdomen. The police have attributed the attack to unnamed “drug dealers.”

“These killings suggest Duterte’s aggressive rhetoric advocating violent, extrajudicial solutions to crime in the Philippines, has found willing takers,” the HRW said.

The group likewise criticized Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre for defending the killings linked to Duterte’s “war on drugs.” 

“He dismissed criticism and insisted that, ‘If you’re in the Philippines, you will choose to kill these drug lords.’ Aguirre justified killings of alleged criminal suspects on the basis that, ‘Desperate times call for desperate measures. So this is what the President is doing and we support it,’” Phelim Kine, deputy director in HRW’s Asia Division, said.

Each day, the death toll from the government’s ‘war on drugs’ climbs higher and higher, Aguirre said.

The Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concerns also expressed outrage over the death of Danica May.

“We are angered by deaths of innocent children who fell victims in this ruthless campaign against drugs and crime,” said Salinlahi secretary-general Kharlo Manano.

“Killing innocent lives and disregard of human rights will never equate to a successful war on drugs. Extrajudicial killings must be stopped now!” Manano added.  – With Ghio Ong, Rhodina Villanueva