Slaughter of Innocents

In June 11, we reported the murder of two crime suspects supposedly by a vigilante group, Cotabato Death Squad (CDS). Although the existence of this group has remained in question, there were allegations the security forces, in some way, could have had involved—directly or otherwise.

These allegations may have been affirmed by the shooting to death of this police officer, Senior Police Officer (SPO1) Bonifacio Sales Jr., who is based in Davao City, in Cotabato City on October 6. This news report described Bonifacio as ” reportedly (having) links to several cases of summary executions of suspected criminals in Cotabato City”.
Bonifacio’s murder and the serious allegations against him should be thoroughly investigated. Those conducting the inquiry should be: independent and has credibility to do so. His death holds not only allegations about the policemen’s involvement in killing of crime suspects, but of the reasons why he is killed and who had perpetrated in murdering him.

Was the attacker a relative of murdered crime suspects, another member of security forces who may have wanted to silence him or hirelings?

Whatever the reasons or motivation for his murder is, it illustrates a certain level of lawlessness in the society that it is a common knowledge: a policeman, who has obligation to protect citizens and enforce laws, has been described as having links to the execution of crime suspects there.