“License to Kill”

Aljon Mesa, Jimboy Bolasa, September 20, and Danilo Mesa, September 26
Barangay North Bay Boulevard South (NBBS), Navotas, Metro Manila
Aljon Mesa, 23, and his brother Danilo Mesa, 34, lived together with relatives in Barangay
NBBS, an impoverished area of Manila. They were killed six days apart, their bodies found
by their mother under adjacent bridges nearby. Both brothers had only irregular work
hauling cargo in the adjacent fish port. 161 Aljon had no involvement with shabu, a relative
told us, as he suffered from pulmonary disease. 162 Danilo was an occasional shabu user,
mainly using the drug to make it through long hours of physically demanding work in the
port, according to his relative. 163
On the afternoon of September 20, Aljon went to the local hospital for a checkup on his
pulmonary disease. After his return, a friend named Wilson invited Aljon over to his home to
watch TV. 164 Eight people, including five boys under 18, were inside Wilson’s house,
including a local drug dealer, Jimboy Bolasa. As they watched TV, six masked armed men
dressed in civilian clothes burst into the room and asked for Wilson, the owner. 165 The
gunmen checked everyone’s identity, and allowed Wilson and the five under 18 to leave the
room, detaining only Aljon and Bolasa. 166 According to neighbors, the masked men beat the
two inside the room before blindfolding them and taken them away on motorcycles at about
5:30 p.m. 167 Aljon’s relative said that uniformed police were also deployed in the
neighborhood at the time of the abduction, apparently to secure the perimeter. 168
About 30 minutes later, a uniformed policeman told Aljon’s relatives that Aljon could be
found under a nearby bridge, and that he was “breathing his last breath.” His relatives
rushed to the bridge, only to find Aljon and Bolasa’s bodies, both fatally shot, their hands
tied with cloth. The masked armed men were still at the scene, while uniformed police
161 Human Rights Watch interview with relative of Aljon Mesa, name withheld, Barangay NBBS, October 22, 2016.
162 Ibid.
163 Ibid.
164 Ibid.
165 Ibid.
166 Ibid.
167 Ibid.
168 Ibid.
LICENSE TO KILL 60