WITH the ongoing debate over alleged extrajudicial killings arising from the Duterte administration’s war against illegal drugs, Sen. Richard J. Gordon slammed the government’s silence in the past on killings perpetrated by persons riding in tandem on motorcycles or what has become to be known as “riding-in-tandem killings.”
Gordon said that, despite the proliferation of riding in tandem killings, there has been little noise about the issue over the last 10 years, questioning the Commission on Human Rights about its marked silence on the matter.
“…Sinasabi natin unexplained killings, let me ask the Commission on Human Rights. Ilan ba ang napatay na mga riding in tandem dito sa bansa natin? How come I don’t hear any noise that has been going on for the last 10 years?… People riding in tandem are shooting people down and we just keep quiet,” he said.
Gordon noted that, owing to the high number of incidents of journalists’ killings, the Philippines has been proclaimed as the murder capital for journalists in the whole world. Judges, lawyers and policemen have also become easy targets for riding in tandem assassins and, yet, there has been no reaction from the commission. He said, “even President Duterte has stated that, when judges or policemen are killed, there is a breakdown or disrespect for the law and a breakdown in the peoples’ trust in the government.”
Records show that at least 58 journalists and 19 judges have been killed by riding in tandems since 1986. Gordon noted that a convicted drug lord who is already in jail masterminded an assassination and threatened a justice of the Supreme Court.
“We keep quiet. But because we have a noisy President right now, I don’t condone what he said ‘Papatayin kita. ‘Because ayaw kong gagayahin ng bata iyon. Doon lang siya pumapalpak para sa akin. Pero hindi siya palpak ’pag sinabi niya, ‘Itong mga pulis na ito, ilabas natin.’ Ito ’yan, at least may ginagawa. Pero iyong wala tayong ginagawa, iyong mga pinapatay, lumalabas na preso, pinapatay ang tao tapos ibabalik sa preso, wala tayong ginagawa doon sa mga naka-motorsiklo, binabaril ang tao, wala tayong ginagawa. So the silence is deafening. And we must all work together as a nation to lift the silence on this matter,” Gordon said.