Digong's Kill List: A Look Through
Photo courtesy of Manila Bulletin
‘Oplan Tokhang’ declassified
MANILA, Philippines—President Rodrigo Duterte’s all-out war against drugs in the country has, indeed, begun. As part of his three-to-six month anti-crime plan, our government, through the Philippine National Police (PNP), launched Oplan Tokhang in July 2016.
Tokhang is a fusion of Visayan words “toktok” (to knock) and “hangyo” (to negotiate).This campaign prompts illegal drug traffickers and users to surrender themselves to the police for rehabilitation.
With a drug watch list on hand, the PNP is sending a strong message that drug criminals have no other way out apart from turning themselves in.
At present, Oplan Tokhang is being carried out all over the country under the command of PNP Chief Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa.
In an interview, Dela Rosa explained how Oplan Tokhang works:
the barangay captain submits a list of community drug suspectsto the police station manager;
the police intelligence officers, then, verify this report; and
the authorities visit the residence of people in the list, and tell them to stop from using and selling illegal drugs in their community.
Now in its full swing, a total of 685,740people have surrendered to the police. Meanwhile, there are about 14,798 others arrested in over 15,000 operations under Oplan Tokhang (as of September 4, 2016). On the other hand, PNP claims that there are about 1,011 drug personalities killed outside the campaign’s operations.
For PNP Chief Director General Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa, these figures only indicate the campaign’s success. In fact, the General’s main worry is how the government will accommodate the overwhelming number of people who voluntarily surrendered themselves.
Casting doubts
However, the celebration for the campaign’s impressive progress was cut short by a Facebook post of Atty. Arpee Santiago on August 25.
Santiago, a lawyer from Ateneo Human Rights Center, recounted on his FB post his encounter with a certain call center agent who sought his help so as to be delisted from PNP’s drug watch list.
The 26-year-old call center agent, whom Atty. Santiago did not name, claims that he never had any involvement with drugs. This claim was substantiated by a certification of innocence issued by the barangay where the call center agent is based.
“He was able to clear his name at the barangay and got a certification that he is innocent of the suspicion; that he was never known to the barangay as being involved with drugs,” Santiago recounted in his post.
After acquiring the certificate which proves his innocence, the call center agent went to the police station where he was told to fill out a “surrender form” and a personal data sheet. He did not fill out any of the two.
“He refused as he was afraid to give a lot of details very personal to all of us,” said Santiago.
“So he left.”
Afraid that he might be targeted by vigilantes, the call center agent went to Atty. Santiago for counsel.
Being a Human Rights lawyer, Santiago naturally questioned the police officers on the credibility of the information which caused his client to be on the list.
He found out that the call center agent is actually clear and the police simply have “raw information.”
“I got the personal assurance of the police and intel officer that my guy is “negative,” and that they will follow the procedure to delist him,” said Atty. Santiago.
“They assured us that he [stays] safe.”
The attempt of the Quintessence to ask Santiago where this incident exactly happened was to no avail. Nonetheless, Atty. Santiago told the Quintessence that there had been some other people who sought his help after his Facebook post trended.
Basically, this incident has stirred doubts on the integrity of the PNP’s drugwatch list. As of press time, Atty. Santiago’s post has 8,086 shares on Facebook.
The next step
From this incident, one could learn that anybody could be accused of being a drug addict or a drug pusher; especially that the process of listing and delisting remains vague to the people.
Should anyone find themselves in a similar situation, the best action is to immediately seek legal counsel, as the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief public attorney Persida Acosta said in a report on September 11.
“Our role first is to ensure that the legal rights of all suspected drug users and pushers will be respected,” the lady lawyer mentioned.
Seek the counsel of an attorney or the services of PAO prior to providing any personal information or signing any form given by the police station. Suspects of being users or pushers of illegal drugs should assert this right and ask to be assisted by counsel. An arrest can only be made when a person is committing or is attempting to commit a crime within the presence of the police officer.
Should anyone demand the accused to sign a surrender form, it is best to remember that the general rule in the conduct of police operations entails that
police officers should be in a complete police uniform with ID and name plate;
the operation should be led by a Commissioned Officer; and
the officers are on-board or using marked PNP vehicles.
Remember that only persons who intend to be rehabilitated should sign this form.
Apparently, it takes three (3) months to process delisting names from the PNP’s illegal drugs watchlist.
Legal help may be obtained from PAO through the following numbers:
(02) 929-9436
(02) 426-2075
(02) 426-2801
(02) 426-2450
(02) 426-2987
(02) 426-2683
---The Quintessence