In a rare conviction related to the country’s so-called “war on drugs,” in which former President Rodrigo Duterte reportedly pushed police to kill drug suspects, a police officer in the Philippines was convicted guilty of the death of two teens, local media reported.
According to official statistics, more nearly 6,200 individuals died in the brutal anti-drug campaign under Duterte’s six-year presidency, which concluded in 2022.
The Philippines Commission on Human Rights and local human rights organizations fear the death toll might be up to three times higher than the 8,663 reported by the United Nations in 2021.
According to local media reports on Tuesday quoting court records, former police officer Jefrey Perez was found guilty on March 1 and given a 20-year prison term for killing Reynaldo De Guzman, 14, and Carl Arnaiz, 19, in 2017.
After being convicted guilty by a court in November of torturing and fabricating evidence on the same teens, Perez was already serving a lengthy prison sentence. Police officer Ricky Arquilita, a co-defendant, passed away during the initial trial. Both disputed the accusations. Also, Perez was mandated to make restitution to the “families of the victims for the murders of their kids,” according to local media site Rappler.
The International Criminal Court is looking into the ex-drug president’s war operation and has only charged three police officers in relation to one homicide (ICC).
The dead kids in the Perez case were last seen together on August 17, 2017.
A witness claimed in court that he saw a police car parked on the side of the road and observed as Arnaiz, who was handcuffed, yelled “I will surrender” as he exited the car before being shot and killed by the police. De Guzman’s body was eventually discovered with numerous stab wounds to the north of the Philippine capital, Manila.
On the evening of August 18, 2017, Arnaiz and De Guzman, neighbors in Cainta Rizal, made the decision to go out for a snack but did not come home, according to the local news source BusinessMirror.
Ten days later, their bodies were discovered in a creek in Gapan, Nueva Ecija; De Guzman had been stabbed 30 times, while Arnaiz had been shot.
The drug war will be continued, but Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has pledged to put more of an emphasis on prevention and rehabilitation than on killing.
Human rights organizations claim the murders have persisted.
In January, the ICC declared that it will reopen its investigation because it was “unsatisfied” with how the Philippines handled the situation.
In March 2018, Duterte declared that the Philippines will leave the ICC and that he would not participate with any inquiries.
Yet, until March 2019, when the Philippines formally withdrew from the court, the ICC was still able to look into crimes committed.
