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Senator Risa Hontiveros. (File / Screenshot / Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines – Several senators are pushing for the Senate to investigate the series of unlawful killings in the country, following the murder of a doctor and her husband in Negros Oriental.
The senators requested an investigation through Senate Resolution No. 599, which urged appropriation commissions to conduct an investigation into the spate of recent killings “in order to achieve justice for the murdered victims.”
The investigation also seeks to “create policies that help restore law and order to the country.”
“At a time of the greatest health crisis the country has ever seen, I am alarmed that this anti-communist agenda reigned over the health and literal survival of the Filipino people. Dr. [Mary Rose] Sancelan and her husband are just some of the victims of a failed and senseless red-label campaign bent on paralyzing our democracy, “Senator Risa Hontiveros said in a statement Friday.
“This attack is just one of many horrific killings in the country, legitimized by an administration that has distorted the meaning of human rights,” he added.
Hontiveros introduced the resolution while Senate Pro Tempore President Ralph Recto, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, and Senators Richard Gordon, Nancy Binay, Joel Villanueva, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, and Leila de Lima jointly signed it.
Hontiveros, when presenting the resolution, also spoke out against the “vicious and deadly practice of labeling individuals.”
This occurs when Sancelan, head of the local Interagency Task Force and the only health doctor in Guihulngan city, was accused by the anti-communist vigilante group “Kagubak” of being a supporter of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing. the New People’s Army, before his death.
“I ask everyone, especially our own government officials, to stop labeling our people in a careless and pernicious way. Innocent lives are at stake. When you openly vilify and label civilians as communist rebels, you only give credence to the suspicion that you have blood on your hands, ”said the senator.
“At the same time, there are also others who were not labeled red but who have become victims of these murders. We need to investigate this immediately, ”he added.
The resolution also cited the “litany” of murders that occurred in 2020, including the murder of lawyer Jovencio Senados, peasant leader and activist Randall Echanis, former Director of Education for the Karapatan Human Rights Alliance, Zara Alvarez, the elderly couple, and former consultants. of peace Agaton Topacio and Eugenia Magpantay, among many others.
“The murders that occurred in the second half of the year have marked a disturbing trend of unidentified gunmen killing lawyers, doctors, journalists and activists in broad daylight, without fear of arrest or apprehension,” Hontiveros continued.
“The growing impudence shows that the police authorities have lost control of peace and order in the country,” he added.
He then called on the Philippine law enforcement agencies to work “tirelessly, unceasingly, properly and legally” to catch the attackers and prevent more illegal and vigilante killings.
“Our law enforcement agencies must demonstrate to the Filipino public that law and order are still a reality they are working for. Let us ensure that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes are brought to justice, ”he said.
“There is no peace when there is no justice,” added Hontiveros.
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