No longer an ‘Isolated Case’: Media miss the pattern of state killings

PUBLIC OUTCRY took over the internet as a law enforcer, Police Master Sergeant Hensie Zinampan, killed a 52-year-old woman in Quezon City on May 31 mainly because he felt “disrespected” by the victim’s family. A similar case happened in December 2020. Police Senior Master Sergeant Nuezca was off-duty in the company of his daughter; but he was armed. He got into a quarrel with Sonya Gregorio and her son, Frank. The altercation led to the police officer shooting both mother and son in front of the victims’ family and his own daughter.

In both cases, media recorded the familiar lament from public officials about such incidents being isolated cases. “This is an unfortunate but isolated incident,” said former military chief and DILG Secretary Eduardo Año last December on the case of Nuezca. Presidential Spox Harry Roque’s shared the same sentiment as he said “That is the exception to the rule. We cannot do anything. Every organization has a bad egg,” in a virtual press briefing on June 1 on the case of Zinampan.

CMFR’s review of cases as reported by the media suggests otherwise. Just this year, from January 2021 to June 2021, CMFR recorded at least 20 civilians killed by the police and other state perpetrators, excluding drug-related killings and those killed by “riding-in-tandem” assailants. Cases involving the latter have been linked to police. 

The graph below maps the cases and shows the frequency of killings per month.

Based on media reports, CMFR provides the case studies over the past six months of the bloody trail which left 20 dead – including activists, barangay officials, a youth with autism, an urban dweller, farmers, indigenous people, and peace consultants associated with the left.

• January 6: Aldrin Enriquez, an activist, was handcuffed and shot by the police in his home in Iriga City, Camarines Sur. The police tagged him as a member of the New People’s Army (NPA) and said he fought back.
• March 7: dubbed as ‘Bloody Sunday’, 9 activists namely Emmanuel Asuncion, Ariel Evangelista, Ana Mariz Evangelista, Melvin Dasigao, Mark Lee Basano, Puro Dela Cruz, Randy Dela Cruz, Abner Esto, and Edward Esto were killed in police raids at dawn in Laguna, Rizal, and Batangas. The police said they were also members of the NPA. 
• March 26: Brgy. Captain Elmer Casabuena was killed by the police in his home due to alleged possession of firearms and drugs in Iriga City, Camarines Sur. 
• April 25: Brgy. Kagawad Froilan Saez Oaferina III was shot thrice after 30 police officers allegedly served a search warrant against him due to illegal possession of firearms, in Buhi town, Camarines Sur.
• May 23: Edwin Arnigo, a 18-year-old with autism, was shot dead by the police after an alleged gun scuffle in a police raid of an illegal cockfighting game in Valenzuela City. 
• May 28: Reynaldo Bocala, NDFP peace consultant, and his aide Welly Arguelles Epago were killed in a police raid in a house in Pavia, Iloilo. In a separate incident on the same date, former priest and peace consultant Rustico Tan was shot dead in his home in Pilar, Camotes Island in Cebu.
• May 31: Lilibeth Valdez was shot in the neck by Police Master Sergeant Zinampan in Quezon City, a case caught on video by the victim’s grandson. Zinampan was reported to be drunk, off-duty and had personal tensions with the victim’s family.
• June 16: Willy Rodriguez, Leni Rivas, and 12-year-old Angel Rivas, three farmers from the Lumad-Manobo tribe, were killed by the military after they asked permission to harvest their abaca (manila hemp)and the military indiscriminately fired on them; the military said they were members of the NPA and it was an encounter.

By now, the media should know better than echo claims that incidence of the police and soldiers involvement in murders of civilians should be regarded as “isolated” cases or as “exceptions.”