Emily and her teenaged son believed in the promise of Rodrigo Duterte. Then cops killed him.
I interviewed Emily in 2020.
She was a village security volunteer (barangay tanod) in an urban poor community in Quezon City, and truly believed Duterte’s promises of rehabilitation and livelihood assistance.
That was what she bought into.
She led police to the homes of users, hoping for that rehabilitation and new life. She urged others to surrender to avail of the same.
Her hopes for peace soon turned into a nightmare.
Police forced confessions and then tracked down and killed close to 6,000 in sanctioned operations, with a corps of vigilantes killing triple that number.
Those who claimed to have no links to illegal drugs were asked to list neighbors — or else.
The truth of “tokhang” ripped through the Soriano home on Dec. 28, 2016, when authorities killed 15-year-old Angelito and seven of his friends. They were “collateral damage” in a chase for a “suspect” — who later emerged as a police informer.
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