IN THE KNOW:

Police killings of teenagers

Inquirer Research / 07:13 AM September 10, 2017

The circumstances surrounding the deaths of Kian Loyd delos Santos, 17, Carl Angelo
Arnaiz, 19, and Reynaldo de Guzman, 14, have implicated the police.

Delos Santos was killed on Aug. 16 in Caloocan City. Police claimed Delos Santos
was a drug runner and they killed him after he fired at them with a .45 caliber pistol
during a drug raid. But according to witnesses, plainclothes officers took Delos Santos
into custody, dragged him to a dark, trash-filled alley and shot him three times,
leaving his body next to a pigsty.
Two days later, on Aug. 18, Arnaiz, a former student of the University of the
Philippines, was killed also in Caloocan. Police said Arnaiz robbed a taxi driver and
they killed him in an exchange of gunfire.

The body of Arnaiz, who was last seen on Aug. 17, was found on Aug. 28 by his
parents in a morgue.

Dr. Erwin Erfe, chief of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) forensic laboratory
services, found that Arnaiz had deep abrasions and marks showing he was handcuffed,
dragged and severely beaten.

The body of De Guzman, Arnaiz’s last known companion, was fished out of a creek
in Gapan City, Nueva Ecija province, on Sept. 5. It remains unclear when and where
De Guzman was killed.

Forensic examination by the National Bureau of Investigation showed that De

Guzman had been stabbed at least 26 times and that the knives pierced his lungs and
heart.
Some of De Guzman’s wounds indicated the killers continued to stab the boy even
after he had already died, according to Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.

PAO and NBI have filed murder charges against the officers involved in the killing of
Delos Santos.

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines also brought criminal charges in the Office of
the Ombudsman against Chief Supt. Roberto Fajardo, head of the Northern Police
District, and Senior Supt. Chito Bersaluna, Chief Insp. Amor Cerillo and three others.
Sources: Inquirer Archives

Killings of Kian delos Santos, Carl Arnaiz and Reynaldo de Guzman

Case Analysis:

The extrajudicial killings that have been synonymous with the Philippines' "war on
drugs" have not spared children, a reality that has gone mostly unnoticed. Between July 2016 and
December 2019, 122 children aged 1 to 17 were killed across the country. This statistic is a
minimum: because parents and relatives are typically fearful of retaliation if they report or
testify, the true figures are likely to be higher. Far from being "collateral damage," as President
Rodrigo Duterte sarcastically remarked, these have frequently been premeditated killings.

The murders are only the most terrible example of what looks to be a much broader war
on children in the country, with a slew of new laws and procedures aimed at criminalizing
children for drug-related offenses. Attempts to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 12 or
even 9 years old, as well as the implementation of mandatory drug testing in high school, are two
examples. The killings documented in this article occur against a backdrop of a once-protective
legislative system for children's rights gradually eroding. The "war on drugs" has resulted in a
significant increase in the arrest and incarceration of minors on drug-related offenses, resulting in
overcrowding in detention facilities where abuse, ill-treatment, and even torture are
commonplace. During the recent Covid-19-related lockdown, multiple children were caught for
curfew infractions, threatened with being shot, and imprisoned in dog cages or inside a coffin.

I would want to urge the Philippine government to put an end to extrajudicial executions
and other grave breaches of children's rights, conduct swift investigations into these crimes, and
prosecute those responsible. In the context of the "war on drugs," the United Nations Human
Rights Council should establish an independent Commission of Inquiry into allegations of grave
human rights violations, particularly against children. The International Criminal Court should
speed up its investigation and prosecution of possible crimes committed by the Philippines.
Finally, I urge the European Union, its member states, and other countries to consider the plight
of children while negotiating trade deals and other agreements with the Philippines.