MOTHERS TO DUTERTE: GIVE JUSTICE TO OUR SONS KILLED BY VIGILANTES

DAVAO CITY - Mothers of victims of summary execution in this city
Thursday urged City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to investigate the arrested
assassin believed to be a member of the shadowy Davao Death Squad
(DDS) as they also urged Duterte to present the suspected DDS before
the public.

In a press briefing in the city Thursday morning, six of the mothers
belonging to the Coalition Against Summary Execution (CASE) also
reiterated their call for justice for their children, who were
executed by suspected members of the DDS because they were reportedly
involved in drug trafficking and petty crimes in the city.

Dahlia Quizo, 43, whose 14-year-old son was killed allegedly by the
DDS, said Duterte should conduct an investigation on the arrested
alleged assassin to determine the mastermind of the summary killings
in the city.

On August 12 Romeo Taysa, a suspected DDS hit man, was arrested after
killing a terminal barker at Ecoland terminal here. He was arrested by
members of the Task Force Davao and was turned over to the police.

Quizo's son, Mark, was killed on March 10 after he was tagged as
founder of a gang called "Inosenteng Demonyo" at their village in
Elenita Heights this city.

"How can a 14-year-old boy organize a gang? He was probably hanging
out with other members of the gang but he did not head the group," she
lamented.

Rosita Datwin, whose son was also slain by the DDS, suggested that the
suspected hitman should be displayed at the plaza so that the public
would see him and know that he is the real criminal.

"They can place a police to guard him while being shown in public.
Mayor Duterte should investigate him [Taysa] to determine who is
behind him," the teary-eyed Datwin appealed. "Why is it that if the
arrested suspect is a minor, they are presented to the media
bare-faced? But when it comes to suspected DDS gunmen, they would
cover his face?"

She added that only Duterte can answer their questions and can solve
the killings in the city as well as help serve justice to all the
victims of the summary killings in the city.

Another mother, Clarita Alia, suspected that a policeman is behind the
killing of his three sons. The three were killed by suspected DDS
gunmen -- two of them killed in 2001, while the other one in 2002.

Alia said she had even tried to send her son Richard, 18, to jail for
disciplinary actions, but the police refused to lock him up because
there was no complainant. "Richard was involved in petty crimes but I
wanted him to be jailed for safekeeping because I could no longer
control him," Alia recalled.

She said that the police told her that they would rather execute his
son than put him behind bars.

A few months later, Richard no longer went out with his friends
because he learned that he was on the "list" of the targets of the
DDS. Alia said that Richard was killed in July 2001. Three months
later his brother Christopher, 16, was also executed. In November
2002, his 14-year-old son Bobby was also killed by suspected DDS. All
three were stabbed to death.

Alia, a market vendor in Bankerohan, said she had already filed a case
against the police before the CHR but nothing happened yet.

Sixty-two persons were already killed in the city this year allegedly
by DDS members.

Claudia Minuza recalled that two of his children were executed in
1999, adding that she had even witnessed when her son Adam, 24, was
shot in front of their house in July 4 that year.

"He was involved in stealing a bicycle but it was already settled. My
other son Louie was involved in robbery, but it was only grocery items
that didn't cost big," Minuza recalled. "Until now justice is not
served to my two sons. We have already sought the help of the
Commission on Human Rights but still nothing happened."

The mothers lamented that they never heard of a big-time syndicate or
criminals arrested or killed in the city. They was that only
small-time or the poor law offenders involved in petty crimes are not
only punished, but were even killed.

'For us as, parents, the execution of the suspected criminals is not
just. Many of us are suffering injustice because our children were
being suspected as criminals. Many of us also are disgusted because
the supposed government agencies that should help us are doing nothing
on the cases," the mothers' statement read.

They also appealed to Duterte to help stop the killings in the city as
they also expect that the mayor himself would lead to run after the
DDS members.