V. Pattern of Killings

It is very hard to believe there is no death squad. There is a clear pattern, including the profile of victims, the choice of weapons, the use of motorcycles without license plates, and police failure in investigating the cases.

—Reah De La Cruz, reporter with Radyo Totoo, DXCP-CMN, General Santos City, July 18, 2008.

For over a decade, death squad killings have plagued Davao City on the southeastern coast of Mindanao.[31] In recent years, similar targeted killings have been reported in General Santos City, Digos City, and Tagum City in Mindanao and even Cebu City in the central island of Cebu. While the exact number of victims of such killings is hard to establish, available data suggest an alarming trend.

According to the Coalition Against Summary Execution (CASE) and the Tambayan Center for the Care of Abused Children (Tambayan), the number of death squad killings of alleged drug dealers, petty criminals, and street children in Davao City that started in the mid-1990s, has increased dramatically in recent years.

CASE documented 814 death squad killings in Davao City from August 19, 1998 to February 1, 2009, 116 of which happened in 2007, 124 in 2008, and 33 in January 2009 alone. CASE distinguished death squad killings from other killings based on several factors, including whether the victim received a previous warning, the profile of the victim, and the method of killing.[32]

A prominent local journalist who has researched extrajudicial killings in Davao City since 1999 told Human Rights Watch that in the course of a month from mid-June to mid-July 2008, he documented 60 killings and an additional eight attempted murders.[33] Data by CASE show a steadily upward trend in the number of killings in recent years from 65 in 2006 to 116 in 2007 and 124 in 2008.[34]

The reasons for the apparent rise in death squad killings are unclear, although the sharp increase in the number of illicit drug groups identified by the authorities in 2007 may offer one explanation, as many victims are alleged drug dealers or users (see chapter IV). Local activists offer other possible explanations: first, long-lasting impunity may have emboldened death squad killers, encouraging them to expand their operations, and second, the recent economic downturn may have led more poor people to resort to drug dealing and other criminal activities as it became difficult to find or keep stable jobs, giving death squad members more potential targets.[35]

However, the authorities in Davao and other cities, including Davao City Mayor Duterte, continue to deny the existence of any death squad. For example, Davao City police director, Sr. Supt. Ramon Apolinario, told local media that the DDS does not exist, adding that, “there is no community or city that will allow these groups to do things beyond legal means. As a law enforcement officer, I will stick to my mandate to observe due process, respect human rights of the suspect and the victim.”[36]

The city prosecutor of Davao, Raul D. Bendigo, wrote to Human Rights Watch that his office has “no hard evidence... on the existence of the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS).”[37] These claims contradict consistent, detailed accounts by many individuals who have witnessed such killings, as well as information provided by “insiders,” as detailed below.

The killings documented by Human Rights Watch and by local human rights groups reveal a pattern in the perpetrators’ modus operandi, including commonalities in the profile of the individuals targeted for killings, advance warnings to victims that they would be targeted, the types of vehicles and weapons used by the assailants, and the locations of the killings.

Warnings and Intimidation

Most victims of targeted killings in Davao City, General Santos City, and Digos City receive warnings prior to the killings. The victims (or their families) first hear that their names are on a presumed list of people slated to be killed—the so-called “Order of Battle” or OB. Such lists have long been used by the Philippine military and police to target suspected NPA members and supporters.

As noted above, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte personally used to announce the names of suspected criminals on local TV or radio in 2001-02, and visited communities to warn delinquent youth and their parents. Local residents say Duterte stopped this practice several years ago, but the practice generated a widely held belief that there was a connection between those publicly named and supposed lists of potential targets.

For instance, prior to the killing of Conrad Dequina in October 2007, a barangay[38] official told Dequina’s family that his name was on a “list,” and advised that he leave town. According to a friend of Dequina’s:

Everybody knew whose names were on the list. I have not seen the list, but a barangay official had the names on a piece of paper, and carried it with him when he visited each house to inform the families.[39]

Accounts of insiders to DDS operations suggest that the police and barangay officials collect the names of drug users, people with a criminal record, and the like. Family members and others personally familiar with the victims of death squad killings consistently told Human Rights Watch that the victim had received clear threats or warnings to stop their criminal activities or other behavior—or face the consequences. Usually, the police or barangay officials delivered the warning, but neighbors and friends also passed on the message. In some cases, people were advised to leave the neighborhood, and a number of people fled after the warning. Others ignored the warnings or returned to the neighborhood after spending some time away, with dire consequences.[40]

For example, Cyrus Gitacaras, a man in his early 20s with a long criminal record, had been jailed as a suspect in a robbery case but was released in August 2007. Gitacaras told friends that a police officer had warned him that, “if he didn’t watch out, he might be killed on the street.”[41] Five days after his release, unidentified assailants murdered Gitacaras in Davao City.

According to Clarita Alia, whose four sons were murdered one after another between July 2001 and April 2007, a local policeman had warned her shortly before the first of her sons to be killed—18-year-old Richard—was stabbed to death. A couple of weeks before his murder, the police tried to arrest him, but his mother resisted, demanding a warrant. Clarita Alia said:

A policeman, who introduced himself as senior police officer [name withheld], told me, “Ok, you don’t want to give your child to me, then watch out because your sons will be killed, one by one!” I was really shocked he mentioned the other sons as they were just little kids then, but he was very angry because I was pushing him out.[42]

Just as the police officer threatened, Christopher Alia, 17, was murdered in October 2001, Bobby Alia, 14, in November 2003, and Fernando Alia, 15, in April 2007.

Locations

Most targeted killings documented by Human Rights Watch were committed in broad daylight in public places. Victims were targeted in front of their houses or in nearby streets, in bars and cafes, in jeepneys or tricycles[43], and in busy markets and shopping areas. In Davao City, death squad killings often occur in certain areas, such as a crowded market in Bankerohan, slums in the Agdao district, and along Bolton Street, a busy street lined with restaurants and cafes.

According to data collected by CASE, out of 814 killings committed in Davao City from August 19, 1998 to February 1, 2009, 57 percent of the incidents took place in areas under the jurisdiction of three police stations: the Santa Ana police station that covers Agdao and Chinatown (21 percent), the Talomo police station that covers communities south of Davao City (20 percent), and the San Pedro police station that covers Davao City’s downtown area including Bolton and Bankerohan (16 percent).[44]

Perpetrators

The perpetrators of targeted killings in Mindanao typically make greater efforts to conceal their weapons than their identity. They are often seen wearing jackets or buttoned-down shirts—apparently to conceal their weapons. Baseball caps are common. In a very small number of cases, eyewitnesses say that the gunmen wear “bonnets” (ski masks) or sunglasses. “Ramon,” a DDS insider, told Human Rights Watch that masks are rare, and usually worn when a hitman operates alone, driving a motorcycle himself.[45]

The presence of multiple eyewitnesses does not seem to restrain the perpetrators. For example, 15-year-old Adon Mandagit was shot dead at around 3 p.m. one day in July 2007 on Bolton Street in Davao City, near a popular Jollibee fast-food outlet.

His friend, who witnessed the killing, told Human Rights Watch:

There were many people in the street—after shooting Adon, the men waived their guns at the crowd, telling people to disperse. Women were shouting, some people hit the ground, and some were running away. I also got scared and hid behind a fruit stand. I could see everything from there.[46]

Witnesses can often clearly see the perpetrators. While perpetrators often wear baseball caps, as noted above, they do not try to hide their faces. In some cases they threaten bystanders before fleeing from the crime scene, waving their guns and telling them to keep quiet.

The UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Philip Alston, found the lack of effort by the perpetrators of such killings to disguise themselves noteworthy. He stated in his 2008 report:

One fact points very strongly to the officially-sanctioned character of these killings: No one involved covers his face. The men who warn mothers that their children will be the next to die unless they make themselves scarce turn up on doorsteps undisguised. The men who gun down or, and this is becoming more common, knife children in the streets almost never cover their faces.[47]

The gunmen usually arrive on motorcycles, in groups of two or three. In most reported cases, the motorcycles do not have license plates. The most commonly used motorcycles are XRM Honda or a larger, DT-type off-road motorcycle. In most of the cases documented by Human Rights Watch, the gunmen left on their motorcycles immediately after the attack and usually long before the police arrived.

Until 2006, perpetrators primarily used firearms—specifically, .45-caliber handguns, and, in some cases, .38-caliber or 9-mm handguns. The use of such firearms is a strong indicator that the murders were not perpetrated by common gang members. The .45-caliber handguns, for example, cost about 30,000 pesos (about US$625) each.[48] The vast majority of gang members cannot afford such expensive weapons, and mostly use knives or homemade pistols instead.

Several individuals familiar with DDS operations told Human Rights Watch that since 2006, some DDS members have started using knives instead of handguns, and have received training to this end. They say that the DDS now often favors knives because they are cheaper, attract less attention, and stab wounds make it easier for the police to claim that the victim was killed by gang members.[49]

Data compiled by CASE confirms the increasing use of knives in alleged death squad attacks. In 2006, 38 victims were shot and 26 were stabbed. In 2007, 56 were shot, and 59 were stabbed. In 2008, 73 were shot, while 50 others were stabbed. (In one case each in 2006, 2007 and 2008, the method of the killing was not given.) Although the use of knives decreased slightly in 2008, the data still show an overall upward trend in the use of knives. In 2005, for example, the number of victims killed with handguns reached 117, but only nine were killed with knives.[50]