In a rare judgment related to the country’s so-called “war on drugs,” in which former President Rodrigo Duterte reportedly encouraged police to kill drug suspects, a police officer in the Philippines was found guilty of the murder of two teenagers, local media reported.
According to official statistics, more than 6,200 people died in the brutal anti-drug campaign during Duterte’s six-year presidency, which concluded in 2022.
Duterte publicly instructed police to shoot drug suspects dead if their lives or the lives of other officers were in danger during his six-year tenure, which concluded in June 2022.
According to official statistics, more than 6,200 individuals lost their lives as a result of the anti-drug campaign, but rights organizations believe the true number to be in the thousands.
For executing a suspect during the crackdown, only three law enforcement personnel had previously been found guilty, leading to an inquiry at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Reynaldo De Guzman, 14, and Carl Arnaiz, 19, were killed by Jefrey Perez on March 1 in Manila, according to a copy of the judgment released by the public prosecutor’s office.
On the same day, Perez was given a minimum prison term of 20 years.
He was already incarcerated for a significant amount of time after being convicted in November of abusing the two teenagers by a separate court.
Police officer Ricky Arquilita, his co-defendant, passed away during the initial hearing. Both disputed the accusations.
A witness claimed in court that he witnessed a police vehicle stopped on the side of the road and observed Arnaiz, who was handcuffed, yelling “I will surrender” as he exited the car before being shot and killed by the police. De Guzman’s corpse was later discovered with numerous stab wounds to the north of the Philippine capital, Manila.
The drug battle will be continued, but the current President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has pledged to emphasize upon avoidance and rehabilitation rather than killing.
Human rights organizations claim the murders have persisted.
In January, the ICC declared that it would reopen its probe because it was “unsatisfied” with how the Philippines handled the situation.
In March 2018, Duterte declared that the Philippines would leave the ICC and that he wasn’t going to comply with any inquiries.
However, until March 2019, when the Philippines formally withdrew from the court, the ICC was still able to look into crimes done in the past.
Following Duterte, President Ferdinand Marcos promised to continue the drug battle but as mentioned above, put an emphasis on education and treatment.
The ICC announced in January that it would resume its investigation into the drug war because its pre-trial chamber was not convinced that the Philippines has begun pertinent inquiry that would warrant a deferral of the court’s investigations.
