Philippines drug war victims seek justice through truth commission

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Hours later, relatives were sending her messages of condolence. Raymart had been found dead in a semi-abandoned part of their Manila neighbourhood, covered in blood, with a gun and a packet of methamphetamine near his body, she was told. “I told my relatives I want to see proof. So, the morgue sent me a photo of Raymart with blood that looked like it was still dripping. There was no denying at that point that he was gone,” she said. It was 2017, at the height of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, when people who were on a watchlist were often killed by police in anti-narcotics operations or by suspected vigilantes. Luzviminda was working in Kuwait at the time, and her contract did not allow her to leave. For days, she begged her employer to allow her to return home and see her son for one last time. “My boss would usually sit on the couch with her feet up. So, I kissed her feet so she would pity me and let me go home,” Luzviminda said. When Luzviminda finally made it back to the Philippines, she went straight to the village hall. There, she was able to confirm that a neighbour had filed a complaint against Raymart, accusing him of dealing cannabis. Witnesses told her Raymart was taken by 14 masked men. They ordered him to run, but he couldn’t because his feet were deformed, so they told him to sit instead, before shooting him dead. Raquel Fortun, a forensic pathologist at the University of the Philippines, confirmed that Raymart was shot at close range. She has been examining the teenager’s remains as part of her work in the Drug War Truth Commission, a civil society-led independent body launched in May to investigate extrajudicial killings linked to Duterte’s campaign. The government says approximately 6,000 people were killed, but rights groups say the death toll may be between 20,000 and 30,000. Duterte, who was in power between 2016 and 2022, was arrested and sent to the International Criminal Court in March 2025. He is currently detained at the Hague and is facing trial for crimes against humanity linked to the drug war. On Friday, the Truth Commission began public hearings that it intends to conduct regularly over the course of the next several months, with families of victims, witnesses and survivors testifying one at a time to a livestreamed audience. Luzviminda was the first to take the stand. In an interview with Al Jazeera a few days before Luzviminda testified, she said she is not hoping to take anyone to court, and is content to be able to tell her story. “I just want to make my fellow Filipinos understand that there were innocent people who were killed and that even those accused of dealing or using drugs deserve due process,” Luzviminda said, adding she believes police planted evidence and insisting Raymart was never involved in illegal drugs. Fortun says the commission is not seeking to prosecute – nor does it have the power to – but is open to helping the government and the International Criminal Court. “We are looking for information. If the courts, whether in the Philippines or outside, would find it useful, then they have access to that. So, it’s up to them,” she said. Several other families also attended the hearing on Friday. Among them was Randy delos Santos, whose 17-year-old nephew, Kian delos Santos, was killed by police officers in 2017. His case is one of only a handful where police have been held accountable for an extrajudicial killing. As in most other cases, the officers said they killed Kian in self-defence. But security camera footage shows them dragging the teen into dark, narrow alleyways, and across a basketball court before shooting him three times. The surveillance video was critical to a murder conviction. But Randy says there is more to the story that the Truth Commission can help bring to light. “We sued them not only for murder but for planting evidence – a gun and drugs. They were only convicted for murder, but they should have been convicted for all three crimes,” he said. For nearly a decade now, both Luzviminda and Randy have been asking the same questions. “Why did they have to kill my son? There should’ve been an investigation first. Or if he was jailed, that would’ve been acceptable. But one day someone accuses him of dealing marijuana, the next day, he’s dead,” Luzviminda said. But whether or not the commission is able to answer these questions, both Luzviminda and Randy say being heard is a step towards closure. 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