Philippines drug war victims seek justice through truth commission

What the report says

Families of people killed during former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign have begun giving testimony to a new Drug War Truth Commission, according to Al Jazeera. The first public hearing was held on Friday in Manila, where relatives, witnesses and survivors described alleged extrajudicial killings and the long effort to obtain answers. Among the first to speak was Luzviminda Siapo, whose teenage son Raymart was found dead in 2017 after being accused of drug dealing. She said she wants recognition that innocent people were killed and that those accused of drugs were still entitled to due process.

Al Jazeera reported that the commission is a civil society-led, independent body launched in May to investigate killings linked to Duterte’s drug war. Forensic pathologist Raquel Fortun, who is involved with the inquiry, said the group is gathering information rather than prosecuting cases, but hopes its findings may be useful to Philippine or international authorities. The hearing also included Randy delos Santos, whose nephew Kian was killed in 2017 in one of the few cases that led to police accountability.

The commission’s public sessions are expected to continue over the coming months. While it has no power to impose legal penalties, the process is being presented by victims’ families as a way to document what happened, challenge years of silence and move toward some measure of closure.