Relatives of victims of extra-judicial killings under President Duterte’s drug war gathered today at the ‘epicenter of Oplan Tokhang’ in Caloocan City for the Rise Up for Life and for Rights (Rise Up) – Metro Manila assembly.
During the gathering at the St. Joseph Parish in Bagong Silang, Caloocan, the group slams the start of the revived ‘Oplan Tokhang’ of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday and the newly-introduced PNP operational guidelines for the said anti-drug drive.
The revamped operational guidelines of the PNP for ‘Oplan Tokhang,’ limit drug operations to weekdays and only during the day. The order essentially bars cops from operating after five in the afternoon and on weekends.
It can be recalled that President Duterte re-assigned the PNP to help the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in its anti-drug war campaign on December 2017 after being removed a month earlier.
The PNP-led ‘Oplan Tokhang’ is believed to have killed almost 14,000 people.
Rise Up Metro Manila airs fear over the revival of Tokhang and foresees another spate of bloody killings. The group decried that giving the PNP a crucial role in Tokhang would not give the public assurance that killings and human rights abuses will stop. They said that the rebirth of the drug war would cause the rise of cases of extra-judicial killings.
“The new operational guidelines of the PNP for Tokhang will never give us peace of mind and security in that the deaths of our loved ones will not be experienced by other poor families. Drug-related killings and abuses know no time and day,” says Anna Lorraine Rafer, spokesperson of Rise Up Metro Manila.
She added, “For the longest time, Tokhang and other violent and persecutory acts of resolving the problem of drugs and substance abuse will not result to solutions but will only worsen the problem. For us victims, Tokhang has no other meaning but loss of lives and grave abuse of human rights.”
Collateral damage
During the press conference, Rodrigo Baylon aired his outrage over the revival of Tokhang as he reiterated his call for justice for the killing of his 9 year old son, Lenin Baylon, on December 5, 2016. Lenin was killed at four in the afternoon by alleged members of the PNP while he was helping out at a community tailoring shop in Camarin, Caloocan City. He had been working there to earn his allowance for school.
Rodrigo Baylon laments that ‘Oplan Tokhang’ knows no one as it victimizes innocent civilians like his son. He added that more victims of ‘collateral damage’ will add up to the long list of EJK victims once the renewed Tokhang will be implemented in full swing next week.
Baylon said, “Oplan Tokhang must stop! If our government officials, including President Duterte, PNP Chief ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa, and our lawmakers are really sincere in upholding human rights, then they must uphold and adhere to the rule of law so that no more lives will be taken away from their loved ones.”
Rise Up Metro Manila calls on the public to be more vigilant in opposing the ‘repackaged Tokhang’ and vows to intensify their campaign against the “bloody drug war” being implemented by the Duterte government.
“If the Duterte government is really serious in ending drugs, it must address the root causes of poverty, unemployment, landlessness, homelessness and others in order to offer full and holistic rehabilitation for the victims of drugs,” Rafer ended.
