Yan po ang pinaka-hate ko Ma’am, yung mga illegal drugs at saka yung mga heinous
crimes. Actually, noong nalaman ko yang Tokhang na yan, sorry to say, I am not a police,
sinasabi ko lang yung about kay A., yung mga tungkol sa kanyang pagkatao, yung
pagbabago niya… Pero noong nalaman kong may pinapatay, hindi ko alam kung masaya
ako eh. Siyempre, nasa isip ko kasi, mababawasan ang mga masasamang tao, pero,
definitely, hindi dapat naman sa ganyang proseso. Maraming mga rapists, hindi lang
naman yang drugs dapat ang... Yun nangyari sa [barangay], yung 14 years old na pinatay
na binasag yung ulo niya, yun, salvage na naman yun. Pero sa pananaw ko, hindi pulis ang
may kagagawan. (Participant 11)
The case of A. also highlighted for them a flaw in the police protocol with regard to its
treatment of reformed surrenderees, which did not differentiate them from hardened drug
addicts.
Palalayasin na sana namin [si A.]. Pinaalis na namin siya. But, hindi namin siya pinaalis
kasi nakita naman namin na…. All we are hoping in the Drug Campain ng government we
are hoping for a innovation sana. Magandang proyekto sana ang inaasahan namin diyan
na they are aiming for the pagbabago sana ng mga Tokhang victims na sinurrender namin
willingly to them together with my husband, na kami pa ang nagencourage sa kanila para
magbago, eh hindi naman pala pagbabago ang ano nila. Ang objective nila, para lipunin
pala silang lahat, patayin silang lahat. Yung lang discouragement and disappointment
namin na nangyari,wala lang room for improvement sana kasi napa-drastic na yung move
ng government na ganyan. (Participant 1)
As I have stated a while ago, I agree to what the government has been doing sa Anti-drug
Campaign na na yan. Maganda nga noong una, yung sinabi din ni Kagawad, maganda nga
noong una, kasi ang alam namin, ang akala namin, they are after the recovery of the
drugdependent and then the drug pusher. Pero nitong huli na nga, nangyari na yan, eh
hindi naman pala yun ang naging objective na nila, naging very harsh ang implementation
naman ng mga recovery program ng gobyerno with the use of the police force….
(Participant 8)
One participant even stated that the killings are not just part of the design but also a
measure of accomplishment for the police.
Talagang inamin sa amin na one of the branches of the police dito na they are doing it for
accomplishment…. Inamin nila talaga they are doing it. Because we are asking, there was
a time na may anonymous text sa amin, yung tungkol sa anak ko, na may threat, nataranta
kaming mag-asawa. Bakit mayroong threat ang anak ko eh wala naman sa Tokhang ang
pangalan niya? So, ang ginawa ng husband ko, pumunta siya sa…nilapitan niya lahat,
PDEA, CIDG, [LGU] Police, nilapitan niya lahat, tinatanong niya kung may pangalan ang
anak ko. Pare-parehas ang sagot nila, wala siyang pangalan dito pero tignan mo sa iba at
baka mayroon silang pangalan, kasi marami kaming grupo…. (Participant 2)
Still, some also believe that it is not only the police who are involved in the killings. Rather,
“Tokhang” and “EJK” has become a catch-all term for various cases of killings, even when it
has not yet been established that it is drug-related or not. Moreover, for one participant,
when a case is deemed to be of “Tokhang” or “EJK”, it is no longer investigated.
Panaghoy: The Philippine War on Drugs from the Perspective of Women
March 2019
46
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