Philippines drug war victims seek justice through truth commission

Manila, Philippines – One moment, Luzviminda Siapo had been chatting with his teenage son, Raymart. 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.