Pasco, Mark Joseph V.

Legal Writing
Assignment No. 1
Facts leading to Extra-judicial killing
I am not afraid of death; I just dont want to be there when it happens. Woody Allen
Extrajudicial killing is defined as a deliberated killing not authorized by a previous
judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees
which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples. 1 Extrajudicial killings are not new
in the Philippines. Historian Alfred McCoy the author of several books on modern
Philippine history calculates that 3,257 people were killed by the regime of dictator
Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled from 1965 to 86, while around 70,000 were imprisoned.
Extrajudicial killings are a legacy from that authoritarian period, says Gascon, who was a
member of the body processing reparations for the Marcos regimes victims before he
became head of the human-rights commission last year. But what makes it a little more
difficult is that in previous administrations, postmartial law, it was not policy to support or
encourage this kind of practice.2

The current administration has intensified its war on drugs and goes with it the death
of numerous people claimed to have been involved with drug related issues were classified
as extrajudicial killings of sorts. The surge in the killing of suspected criminals since June 30,
2016, has been marked and unmistakable. Most of those killed were identified by the police
as suspected drug dealers or pushers (tulak). This KILL LIST is an attempt to document the
names and other particulars of the casualties in the Duterte administrations war on crime; it
will be updated every Monday and Thursday. To date, the list includes at least 283 dead who
remain unidentified and about 100 who are identified only by an alias; we are seeking other
ways to verify identification. Three individuals previously reported dead have since been
confirmed alive; the INQUIRER has removed them from the count but keeps their names on
the list with the disclaimer that they are still alive. 3
Dutertes obsession with drugs is putting the internal security of a developing country
already struggling with Islamist and communist insurgencies, and devastating typhoons
at undue risk. Drugs are an issue in the Philippines but only one of many, and Duterte has
failed to display any understanding that drug crime is more a symptom of many social
problems rather than the cause. Poverty and corruption were rightly on Dutertes manifesto,
yet the drug obsession is blinding him and leading to carnage for a fundamentally flawed
ideal.

How these lists are created is anyones guess. Duterte claims he has evidence to
justify putting mayors, police, judges, and politicians on them. Police corruption is at the
heart of the matter in one breath Duterte denounces the police as corrupt, yet is allowing
them to murder without due process, and compile lists of people to kill. The image of a dead
Manila rickshaw driver, Michael Siaron, in the arms of his partner will haunt many but not
Duterte, who claimed it was melodramatic. The constant stream of images has become
almost pornographic, causing tit-for-tat squabbles between supporters and detractors.
Siarons drug use (though his partner forcefully denies that he was dealing) while pedalling

passengers around the packed streets of Manila should offend, or surprise, nobody. Duterte
and his supporters must try to understand the human stories of drug users before inciting
further murder.4

1 Sinaltrainal v. Coca-Cola Co., 578 F.3d 1252 (11th Cir. Fla. 2009)
2 http://time.com/4462352/rodrigo-duterte-drug-war-drugs-philippines-killing/
3 http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/794598/kill-list-drugs-duterte
4https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/09/kill-list-phillipines-duterte-mass-murderchina-united-states-rivalry-war-on-drugs