CHR sends teams to investigate killings of teens and minors

September 15, 2017

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said Friday  "it is deeply disturbed" with the rising death toll of teens and minors in the country after news reports of another death in Bulacan.

News reports said Michael Angelo Remecio, 16, of Bagong Silang, Caloocan, was found inside a rice sack at the riverbank of San Jose del Monte Thursday.

"Recent reports, not counting those that remain undocumented, prove that such incidents are not mere “isolated cases” and deserve serious, concrete actions from the government. Whatever the reason may be, one death is still too many," the CHR said in a statement Friday.

The CHR  said it has sent NCR, Region III, and investigation offices, supplemented by efforts from a special Composite Team, to conduct motu proprio investigations on the killings of teens and minors across the country.

"We look forward to the commitment of cooperation of the Philippine National Police and other related government agencies in seeking out the truth concerning these deaths. We strongly believe that it is only through openness and transparency that we can achieve justice for these killings," the commission said.,

"The recent killing of Kian delos Santos, 17; Carl Angelo Arnaiz, 19; Reynaldo de Guzman, 14; Raymart Siapo, 19; and Grace Omadlao, 16, raises serious concerns on the quality of protection that the government extends to our children," it said.

De los Santos died in an anti-drug operation where police claimed he was a drug courier while Arnaiz allegedly tried to rob a taxi driver. De Guzman, said to be a companion of Arnaiz, was found dead in Gapan while Omadlao was allegedly raped by four drugs suspects in Pasig.

Siapo was killed by unidentified men in  Navotas after a neighbor claimed he was selling illegal drugs.

The CHR said the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 shows the government must “apply the principles of restorative justice in all its laws, policies and programs applicable to children in conflict with the law.” "Death is never an appropriate response," the CHR added.

The CHR said children are traumatized seeing their parents being handcuffed and arrested during home raids; while some being forcedly strip-searched by the police.

"Exposure to conflict and violence related to the illegal drugs trade, as studies show, impacts children’s psychological development due to the significant correlation between living in violent surroundings and aggression and rule-breaking," the commission added.

The CHR said The Philippine government, as party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC), to “take all appropriate measures, including legislative, administrative, social and educational measures, to protect children from the illicit use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances as defined in the relevant international treaties, and to prevent the use of children in the illicit production and trafficking of such substances” DMS