“License to Kill”

A relative told Human Rights Watch that Ronda went out drinking with a group of friends on
the evening of June 7 in nearby town of Biñan. At about 5 a.m. on June 8, Ronda took a
moto-taxi home with a friend. 79 On their way, while in the area of the Polytechnic University
of the Philippines at Santa Rosa, they passed a white van with at least three plainclothes
armed men inside, who stopped the moto taxi, and identified themselves as policemen. 80
Ronda’s friend ran away, but the armed men detained Ronda and told the driver of the
moto taxi to leave. 81
Ronda’s family later learned from his friend that the armed men took Ronda into the van
and drove off, but apparently remained in the vicinity of the university. Ronda’s relative
told Human Rights Watch that people in the area heard gunshots. When they went to
investigate, they found Ronda’s body near the university’s basketball court just 100 meters
from where he had been detained by the police. He had a gunshot wound to the temple
and what looked like ligature marks near his neck. A .38 caliber handgun and packets of
drugs were found near his body. 82 The policemen and the white van were not at the scene
when the body was discovered, but Scene of Crimes Operatives (SOCO) investigative
officers arrived soon after. 83
The police report of the incident, signed by the chief of police of the Santa Rosa City Police
Station in Laguna, offered a version of events inconsistent with the witness account. The
report states that police killed Ronda during a “buy-bust” operation, alleging that he was
shot after he grew suspicious and drew a gun on undercover police officers. The report
makes no mention of his detention by the officers in the van:
Investigation conducted disclosed that Intel operatives of this station
conducted an anti-illegal drugs operation (buy-bust) operation led by
[intelligence officers] against the suspect after police acted as a poseur
79 Ibid.
80 Ibid.
81 Ibid.
82 Ibid.
83 Ibid.
LICENSE TO KILL 42