Summary slays surge anew in Davao City

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – After a lull for several months, summary killings have again surged in this southern metropolis, with 15 cases recorded last month alone.

City councilors have expressed alarm over the extra-judicial killings, especially during the last weekend of August when seven people were shot dead in a span of 24 hours in different parts of the city.

They have asked the city police to get to the bottom of these summary killings.

Councilor Nilo Abellera also sought the cooperation of the public to help in the investigation of the summary killings, as policemen could not be present all the time when such incidents happen.

The victims were reportedly just having drinking sprees with friends even in their own houses when they were attacked by motorcycle-riding gunmen.

One particular case, however, involved a local businessman who is now at large after he shot dead a metal scrap vendor and wounded the victim’s nephew.

It could not be ascertained if the vigilante group Davao Death Squad (DDS) was behind the new wave of killings.

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte urged the families of the victims to bring their cases to the Philippine National Police or the Commission on Human Rights, saying he has “long given up my jurisdiction over the police and even the Task Force Davao.”

Duterte, who has repeatedly denied any hand in the summary executions, has resigned as deputized representative of the National Police Commission after the CHR started last March its investigation into the summary killings blamed on the DDS. –Edith Regalado (The Philippine Star)