By Mary Noll Christine P. Caadyang SEN. LEILA de Lima proposed on Tuesday Senate Bill 1197 ordering police to use a megaphone for warning suspects before arresting them in operations. The bill, also known as the “Anti-Extrajudicial Killing Act of 2016” (Anti-EJK Act), stated that a warning before conducting arrest shall be issued by the police through a megaphone. Shooting is also “absolutely prohibited.”
Anti-EJK Act defined “extrajudicial killing” (EJK) as “the unlawful, and deliberate killing of targeted individual or groups thereof, carried out by agents of the State and under its order or acquiescence in lieu of arrest, investigation and prosecution.” “The Filipino as a nation cannot negate that EJK is a clear and present phenomenon of the times, boldly challenging our constitutionally-protected human rights against taking of life, transgression of due process, and presumption of innocence of criminal suspects,” de Lima said in a press release. The former human rights chief initiated a Senate inquiry on the rising number of deaths related to President Rodrigo Duterte’s war against drugs. "Extrajudicial killing has become a grave concern in our homes, within Philippine shores and around the world that demands only the most certain effort through legislation," de Lima said. Under the proposed measure by de Lima, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) shall have the authority to investigate cases of EJKs, motu propio or on complaint. The National Bureau of Investigation shall also make relevant services available to the CHR and the PNP in their inquiries or investigations of EJK cases. Special mandates are also given to PNP to observe minimum standards in conducting arrest, raid, search, and seizure. Life imprisonment without the benefit of the parole shall be imposed for any individual found guilty of committing EJK. As of Oct. 18, statistics from the Philippine National Police (PNP) showed 4,407 people were killed on “war on drugs” since July 1, where 1,161 drug personalities died in legitimate police operations. There are no data regarding vigilante killings or EJKs as of date, however statistics from PNP on Oct. 14 showed 2,730 people were victims of extrajudicial or vigilante-style killings (including deaths under investigation). E
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