This photo taken on June 17, 2022 shows forensic pathologist pointing at a scapula with a bullet hole during a post mortem medical examination of an exhumed drug war victim, at the University of the Philippines Manila, in Manila. (Photo: AFP)
Families of victims of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's controversial war on drugs claim they are being harassed by state operatives in order to cover up how their loved ones met their deaths.
The claims come amid an International Criminal Court probe into thousands of deaths attributed to Duterte's anti-drug campaign.
Lourdes de Juan, 41, widow of Constantino de Juan, said several men claiming to be members of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) were putting pressure on her after an independent forensic pathologist examined her husband’s remains.
De Juan said she was visited by the NBI officials at least three times at her house in a slum in Quezon City, in the capital Manila, where her husband was shot and killed by masked men in 2016 while cooking pasta for the birthday of one of their seven children. Two of the children witnessed the killing.
“Their visits were in relation to a subpoena I received last January, asking me to appear at the NBI office,” she told UCA News.
In March this year, the ICC rejected Philippine government appeal to suspend a probe into the war on drugs, started by Duterte when he came to power in 2016. Official figures put the death toll at 6,500 but rights groups like Human Rights Watch claim the tally is much higher, with some estimates putting the toll at more than 30,000.
Sara Duterte, daughter of the former president, serves as vice president in the government of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the Marcoses and the Dutertes are known political allies.
De Juan said she has an idea why government operatives have contacted her.
"They [NBI] knew I allowed a forensic pathologist to examine my husband’s remains and the result was that he did not die due to natural causes as certified on the official death certificate but due to a bullet wound to his head,” she said.
The crime scene report stated that her husband died due to three bullet wounds and the certificate was attested by a physician from East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City.
But when the Philippines Statistics Authority issued the official death certificate, the 36-year-old's cause of death was due to natural causes.
“This is completely false because my husband died because he was shot,” de Juan said.
Aided by anti-drug war activist and Society of Divine Word priest Father Flavie Villanueva, an independent forensic pathologist exhumed her husband’s remains on Dec. 8, 2021.
“He [De Juan] was reportedly pronounced dead and the case was certified as ‘three bullets due to gunshot’. On the Philippine Statistics Authority death certificate, however, a private physician signed the cause of death as ‘acute myocardial infarction [due to hypertension],” forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun wrote in her report.
“Findings showed fractures of the skull and left ribs consisting of gunshot wounds in the left back of the head and chest. A bullet was recorded from the left side of the body. The manner of death is homicide.”
The pathological diagnosis revealed that he was shot several times during a “buy-bust” operation by police at his residence.
“We have evidence that the government has tampered with records of victims, and our discovery makes those responsible panic because our findings may be brought to the attention of the International Criminal Court as evidence,” Father Villanueva, a staunch critic of the war on drugs campaign, told UCA News.
Another widow, who wished to remain anonymous, said someone who claimed to be a police officer warned her against saying anything against Duterte.
“I was waiting for my children at the school gate when two men asked me about my late husband. They told me not to speak against Duterte to avoid another incident happening in my family,” the 43-year-old from Caloocan, in Manila, told UCA News.
She said many victims’ families are willing to give testimony but were afraid.
“Of course, we want justice. But how can we speak if, the next day, we’re gone? Who will take care of our children?” she said.
Father Villanueva urged Church leaders in the Catholic-majority nation to extend help to keep witnesses safe.
“We need to give them sanctuary. It is really difficult because it is not just giving them a safe place but also a viable source of income to support their families,” Father Villanueva told UCA News.
