“License to Kill”

Duterte was Davao City mayor for most of
“
the years between 1988 and 2016. Local
All of you who are into drugs,you
sons of bitches, I will really kill
activists say death squad killings of
you. I have no patience. I have
alleged drug dealers, petty criminals, and
no middle ground.”
street children in Davao City started
―Rodrigo Duterte, May 7, 2016
sometime in the mid-1990s, during
Duterte’s second term. The group that
claimed to be responsible for the killings was called Suluguon sa Katawhan or
“Servants of the People,” among other names, but soon the media in Davao City began
referring to it as the Davao Death Squad. 16
Duterte’s active promotion of killing drug suspects led to a sharp increase in such killings
during his time as mayor: according to one estimate, at least 1,424 such killings took place
in Davao between 1998 and 2015. 17 When confronted with the death toll during his
Presidential election campaign, Duterte responded: “They said I killed 700? They
miscalculated. It was 1,700.” 18
The Philippine National Commission on Human Rights initiated an investigation into the
Davao Death Squad in 2009. 19 This prompted the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate
police officers for failing to investigate the death squad killings, and in 2012 it found 21
police officers guilty of “simple neglect of duty” and fined each of them the equivalent of
one month’s salary. 20 The Court of Appeals overturned the Ombudsman’s verdict that same
year. To date, not one person has been convicted for involvement in any of the killings. 21
16 Ibid.
17 Father Amado Picardal, “The Victims of the Davao Death Squad: Consolidated Report, 1998-2015,” CBCP News,
http://www.cbcpnews.com/cbcpnews/?p=76531.
18 Paterno Esmaquel II, “Duterte: I killed 700? No, Make That 1,700,” Rappler, December 8, 2015,
http://www.rappler.com/nation/politics/elections/2016/115315-duterte-killings-amnesty-international.
19 Keith Bacongco and Carolyn O. Arguillas, “De Lima: CHR will prove there is a Davao Death Squad,” Mindanews, April 17,
2009, http://www.mindanews.com/c166-the-davao-killings/2009/04/de-lima-chr-will-prove-there-is-a-davao-death-squad/
(accessed December 12, 2016).
20 Office of the Ombudsman, “Ombudsman Morales penalizes 21 PNP officers over Davao Death Squad,” March 29, 2012,
http://www.ombudsman.gov.ph/index.php?home=1&pressId=MjUz (accessed December 12, 2016).
21 Ibid.
29 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MARCH 2017