(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte believes some parties are out to “sabotage” the government’s war on drugs, which some say was used as pretext to claim the lives of three boys, including Carl Angelo Arnaiz, whom the President described as his relative.
“Silipin mong mabuti kasi may (nananabotahe). Sinasadya talaga iyan..Bantay ka riyan, may nagluluto diyan to discredit (the government),” he told Philippine National Police Chief Roland dela Rosa, who was with him when he graced the 17th Araw ng Digos founding anniversary celebration in Davao del Sur on Friday.
He said “it (was) not the job” of the police to wrap people in packaging tape.
He was apparently referring to 14-year-old Reynaldo de Guzman, who was found dead in a creek in Gapan, Nueva Ecija on Wednesday.
Apart from being wrapped in packaging tape, he bore more than 20 stab wounds.
Some quarters are blaming policemen engaged in illegal activities for the boy’s death.
Earlier, on Aug. 18, De Guzman’s friend, Arnaiz, whom the President described as his “relative” in his speech, was killed in what police said was an ensuing shootout with patrolling policemen who were out to arrest him after he held a taxi driver at gunpoint.
But Arnaiz’s family disputed the police account, saying that autopsy results conducted by the Public Attorneys Office showed the boy appeared to have been tortured before he was killed.
On Aug. 16, Kian Loyd delos Santos was also killed after, according to the police, he fired at the uniformed men who were out to arrest him in an anti-drug operation.
But the boy’s parents disputed this, citing footage from a barangay closed-circuit television camera that reportedly showed their son being held by two alleged policemen.
“Give them space”
Despite Duterte’s apparent defense of the police, he said those who wished to participate in a “massive rally” against the war on drugs would not be stopped.
He ordered the military to stay in their barracks on that day, if ever, and the police to remain in the police stations.
“Leave somebody to manage traffic, period,” he said.
“Bigay mo space sa kanila. They can shout for the day,” he added.