By: Robert B. Roque, Jr.
The funeral march for slain 17-year-old grade 11 student Kian delos Santos made a brief stop in front of the Caloocan City PCP 7 where the cops involved in his killing were assigned.
In an attempt perhaps to shake the conscience of those involved in the crime, Father George Alfonso, Santa Quiteria Church parish priest, read “Panaghoy sa Katarungan (Cry for Justice)” in front of the precinct.
Hundreds of people who attended the march all prayed that Delos Santos and other victims of the bloody drug war would get justice.
At present, Delos Santos has become the symbol of the alleged police abuses in the war on drugs. Thousands have already perished since President Duterte launched his bloody campaign.
On her Twitter account, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial Executions Agnes Callamard expressed her heart-felt condolences to the Delos Santos family and to all families who were supposedly victimized by this cruel war.
Callamard urged the Philippines to make the death of Kian the last in the war on drugs. She said that the teenager’s death was murder and that all unlawful deaths must be investigated.
Autopsy results showed Kian was on the ground when he sustained a gunshot wound to the back, to the back of the left ear and one inside the left ear from the shooter who was standing up. This contradicted the cops’ claim that the boy resisted arrest and traded shots with them.
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One of several witnesses under the care of the Public Attorney’s Office allegedly has a cell phone video that captured scenes showing Kian’s execution. PAO intends to examine this video as it seeks to find additional pieces of evidence to the killing.
Still, PAO chief Persida Acosta maintains that the evidence they already have against the respondent-lawmen are already strong and airtight.
Firing Line believes that even if Kian was truly involved in illegal drugs as the police claim, there was no reason to kill him in cold blood.
Intentionally killing someone not involved in drugs is an even bigger blunder. It raises more doubts on how trustworthy our police really are, as well as the safety of the public they ought to protect. All police operations should be conducted by the book.
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