UPTICK IN EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS IN DAVAO AND CEBU

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 003754 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/PMBS, DRL/CRA, INR/EAP E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/15/2015 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PINR SOCI PREL RP SUBJECT: UPTICK IN EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS IN DAVAO AND CEBU REF: A. MANILA 1774 ¶B. MANILA 1253 ¶C. MANILA 0587 ¶D. MANILA 0312 ¶E. MANILA 0129 Classified By: Political Officer Timothy Cipullo for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Extra-judicial killings of suspected criminals in Davao and Cebu are on the increase. So far, 137 have been slain this year in Davao and 77 in Cebu. No arrests have been made. The killings appear to have spread to other localities: there have been several recent slayings in the Cebu Province towns of Toledo and Carcar. The killings seem very popular with the publics in Davao and Cebu, although human rights groups and the Catholic Church continue to condemn them. Mission continues to urge respect for the rule of law, and the apprehension and prosecution of those responsible. End Summary. -------------- Uptick in Davao Killings -------------- ¶2. (U) The number of vigilante-style executions of suspected drug pushers and other alleged criminals has increased in the cities of Davao in Mindanao and Cebu in the central Visayan region. Kabataan Consortium, a Davao City-based human rights advocacy group and founding member of the Coalition Against Summary Executions (CASE),has documented 137 cases of summary executions in Davao City from January to August 2005. This surpasses the number of such killings by suspected members of the "Davao Death Squad" or "DDS" for the entire year of 2004, when vigilantes murdered 104 suspected criminals, according to Kabataan Consortium. (Note: The DDS is a shadowy vigilante group that apparently has carried out the bulk of the killings.) Based on what Mission has heard, the killings remain popular among Davao citizens. ¶3. (U) As of August 15, authorities have not filed a single case related to the killings in Davao in 2005. Two cases filed last year were both dismissed because relatives of the victims withdrew their complaints. In June 2005, the wing of the Office of the Ombudsman responsible for Mindanao ordered a six-month suspension of a former police chief and three precinct commanders in Davao for alleged negligence, inefficiency, and incompetence in failing to solve cases of summary executions within the Davao jurisdiction. However, the Court of Appeals on July 4 issued a temporary restraining order that reinstated the four while their case is reviewed on appeal. Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte publicly defended the four men and has set up a legal defense fund to assist them. -------------- More Slayings in Cebu -------------- ¶4. (C) In the meantime, according to contacts and media sources, the number of extra-judicial killings in Cebu City has risen to 77, as of August 2 -- an increase of 36 since April 2005 (see ref a). (Note: The killings in Cebu basically began in December 2004. There was no previous pattern of extra-judicial killings in the locality. End Note.) Observers blame the killings on a special squad of police officers purportedly tasked to go after criminal elements in the city, called the "hunter team." The team was formed by Cebu Mayor Tommy Osmena in December 2004 (see ref e). A wave of criticism by lawyers and civil society groups, led by Ricardo Cardinal Vidal of Cebu, prompted Director General of the Philippine National Police (PNP) General Arturo Lomibao to promise in April that the police would investigate all such cases. Lomibao also formed a task force to look into the situation, which reportedly has not yet completed its investigation. Nonetheless, as in Davao, all of the killings this year in Cebu remain unsolved. John Domingo, the U.S. Consular Agent in Cebu (Amcit -- pls protect),told Acting Pol/C on August 12 that the killings remain very popular with the Cebu public, despite the criticism. He said average Cebuanos feel that street crime has gone way down due to the killings and they appreciate that. -------------- A Spreading Problem? -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The practice of executing suspected criminals appears to have recently spread from Cebu City to the neighboring localities of Toledo and Carcar, also located on Cebu island. In early August two suspected drug dealers were gunned down in Toledo and a suspected criminal was killed by motorcycle-riding gunmen in Carcar (the same modus operandi of many of the killings in Cebu City). Fearing that the wave of killings has spread outside of Cebu City, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia ordered the police to look into the killings and to submit a report on steps they will take to prevent the escalation of vigilante-style killings in Cebu Province. (Note: Cebu City is a self-governing municipality outside of the jurisdiction of Cebu Province. End Note.) -------------- Comment -------------- ¶6. (C) As noted, despite the criticism of human rights groups and the Catholic Church, the killings seem very popular with the publics in Davao and Cebu. Mayors Duterte and Osmena clearly condone the killings -- which have not hurt their political standing in the slightest and apparently given them some bounce in popularity (though Osmena reportedly remains a generally unpopular mayor for other reasons). Davao, the largest city in Mindanao, has faced this sort of recurring violence for some time. It is a new phenomenon for Cebu, however, which is the Philippines' second largest city and a major trade entrepot. Moreover, Cebu heretofore had a positive reputation as a city that respected the rule of law and human rights. Given the example of these two important cities, it seemed only time before the killings spread to other places, as seems to be the case in Toledo and Carcar. Visit Embassy Manila's Classified SIPRNET website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/manila/index. cfm You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/ JOHNSON