LAW & ORDER: The advent of the vigilantes, Davao death Squad, Part 2
Photo courtesy of Frédéric BISSON via Flickr.
The situation developed to such an extent that anybody who was somebody knew exactly what was going on but nobody either dared to or wanted to come out and reveal what was going on. It was generally understood that whatever was happening was happening to those that were connected with drug-running or criminal activities.
The general perception was that:
- Whatever was happening was for the general good of the Filipino society since the maladies in the crime scene had surpassed all limits of lack of administrative control.
- It was the considered opinion of the organizations like the local Human Watch that vigilante activities were the handiwork of the law and order managers who were from the police forces and had either retired or were still in service.
- It was also supposed that the police forces and the army were able to mask their either their inefficiency or perpetrating their misdeeds blaming them on the vigilante activities.
- The security forces were providing the vigilantes with:
– Professional training, Arms and ammunitions, Vital intelligence,Vehicles to move around, and A list of the targets.
Armed with the above, the alleged vigilantes would then provide the complete planned modus operandi while informing the concerned police stations to look the other way when the assassination was scheduled; the planned escape of the assassins would also be set up in advance.
The allegations included the lethargic response of the local authorities and the lack of proper professional procedures in the investigations that followed, if at all.
It was reported by the eyewitnesses that the assassins would converge to the planned venue in small groups on unlicensed vehicles, commit the crime in plain view of all and just move out; no eyewitnesses would be forthcoming due to fear.
The cost of each assassination would depend on the importance of the persons who was targeted.
The Impact
Consequent to the vigilante action, the figures relating to the crime rate plummeted astonishingly; the fear of the punishers was too great and the delighted Mayor of Davao, Rodrigo Duterte reported that the impact was so much that the figures of the period between 1999 to 2005 were but a fraction of the figures till 1985.
But, Human Rights watch differed in as much as that the petty crimes had been replaced by murders; there was also a 29% increase in the population between 1999 and 2008.
Alleged involvement of Rodrigo Duterte
Meanwhile, Rodrigo Duterte, the Mayor of Davao City, did not mince his words when it came to dealing with the criminals and the drug runners, he did not even care to mask his words with regards to the actions of the vigilante groups in dealing with the criminals; this was a subject of severe criticism from various organizations.
It was alleged that his utterances not only pointed to his condoning the assasinations and murders, he even seemed to be inciting THE MURDERS HIMSELF; the 2009 session of the Human Rights council of the United Nations was particularly severe on him by stating that, while he was not only looking the other way, he was actually seen as being fully in support of the vigilantes.
In fact, the Human Rights Watch even reported that in 2001–2002, the names of some criminals had been openly announced on local TV; that these same people were done to death later was a clear indication of his complicity.
In fact, he was quite fearless when he mentioned such acts as openly as he could without even an iota of hesitation; he insisted in public meetings that the most successful method of suppressing the drug runners and kidnappers was the method being adopted by the vigilantes, summary killings.
In fact, he openly challenged and told the criminal elements that death and destruction awaited them if they were exploiting the common man with any sort of criminal act, they were in for the same fate that other criminals had faced, as long as he was the mayor.
When a drug runner who had been operating his network in the Manila region got out of jail, Duterte objected and declared that, had it happened in Davao, he would have presented the culprit in front of a magistrate and killed him there; according to him that was the proper course to be followed.
He even spoke out similarly in many cases particularly when it was concerning a rice smuggler who had been arrested; the fearless Duterte did not mince his words even on the floor of the senate saying that, if the crime of smuggling rice had been committed in davao, he would have only been glad to kill him himself.
This caused an uproar in the media with almost all newspapers taking him to task for his unlawful and vindictive attitude; Manila Times was particularly harsh on the Mayor for encouraging the illegal activities of private armies, drug lords and the Mafia and punishing those that were against their personal interests.
Even the Presidential authority took note of these utterances and issued a statement to refrain from adopting course of action that would subvert the law or amount to breaking it; it was also noted that even the police and military men had become abusive and arbitrary in their actions.
Even journalists and human rights workers were not spared in their duties of fighting corruption and lawlessness.
This also drew the attention of the United Nations representatives who were seized of the matter and they were very critical of his activities blaming him of being ruthless against criminals while turning a blind eye towards the misdeeds of the vigilantes who were openly conducting daylight murders without even bothering to cover their faces.
Engkwentro (film) – The celluloid depiction
All negative and positive things about the presumptive President-elect of the Philippines are known to most people but getting them to stand by their words will not be easy.
For example, everyone knows that the 2009 film directed by the legendary director Pepe Diokno is based on the next President’s life and has been crafted to expose the happenings during the alleged state-sponsored vigilante killings in southern Philippines.
It was the only Filipino film selected to compete at the 66th Venice International Film Festival and so powerful was the effect of the movie that it won the best movie award.
The city mayor is depicted as the force behind the vigilante groups and the City Death Squad is scouring the streets hunting for one of the brothers; a fast paced thriller, it won the Best movie award in the New Horizons category.
The festival director, Pepe Diokno also won the Luigi de Laurentiis Venice award for the best Debut Film.
Umrao Singh Umraoz.wordpress.com
Written for: Lars-Magnus Carlsson www.thephilippinepride.com
