Press Statement

March 10, 2017

Rights lawyers and church group take on tokhang

Theres been no restraint or second thoughts at all about Dutertes war on drugs, relaunched this week
as Oplan Double Barrel, Reloaded. Intensely marked by illegal practices and human rights violations,
the campaign has literally become tok-bang from tokhang.

Experts and experience, here and abroad, have all pointed to a balanced approach of medical, psycho-
social, community and police engagement to defeat the scourge of illegal drugs. Despite so, Duterte has
insisted on a brutal method combining excessive force, extrajudicial killings, and disregard of law or
reason.

The bloody war has irrationally claimed 7,000 dead, mostly poor and underprivileged, and chaotically
terrorized the general public. Though the police claim the revamped campaign will exclude police
scalawags and involve to much horror and with its laden history the military, the subsisting policy of
mercenary viciousness, and overkill will ensure more deaths, graver rights violations, and deeper fear.
Dutertes opus Oplan wont likely the problem with drugs in the near future.

There is no choice for the National Union of Peoples Lawyers from the National Capital Region but to go
lock, stock, and barrel in against rampant abuses and illegalities. We have consistently advised against
1) mandatory drug tests in certain instances as invalid exercise of police power, 2) tokhang searches
that are constitutionally unreasonable, 3) discriminatory and arbitrary tagging of surrenderees as threat
to security, 4) issuance of classified drug personalities list, and 4) dubious police zoning operations
and raids, among others.

As the victims, survivors, and their families gather their wits and courage, we are ready to provide legal
services and representation in tandem with support groups that can give security, complementary, and
holistic services. For the deaths that have solved nothing, we will try to exact accountability and
ultimately, give meaning. We will continually support the reclaiming of dignity, and the rehabilitation of
lives towards transformation into more productive forces of society.

Rise up for life, rise up for rights!

References:

Atty. Ephraim Cortez

NUPL National Secretary General
09175465798

Atty. Kristina Conti

NUPL-NCR Secretary General
09298207000