IFUGAO Representative Teddy Brawner Baguilat is tagging the war on drugs waged by the administration as a war of the classes.
Baguilat said treatment of suspects in the drug clean up has been discriminatory.
“The rich and powerful are given deadlines to negotiate their surrender, are accommodated in the PNP White House, gets invited to coffee and are subject to an investigation. But the poor, the lowly drug pusher or the addict simply gets the bullet. It seems like the rules are different with the rich and the poor,” Baguilat said.
“For the poor, there is no negotiations, no courtesy calls, no warnings. They are just killed to add fodder to the propaganda of the administration,” Baguilat added.
The Ifugao solon underscored the government has created a new class of people, those who are linked to drugs and unlike the rest of the population, does not have basic human rights.
“They are deprived of due process and the right to life. Justice has now been transferred from the judiciary to Barangay Captains and Police Intelligence, who identify and prosecute drug addicts and pushers,” Baguilat lamented.
Baguilat earlier filed a resolution calling for an investigation of the extra judicial killings of suspected drug criminals by people expected to uphold the law hints at a disrespect for the Constitution and the deterioration of the rule of law.
The solon added if these killings does not stop or look into its causes, soon enough, people will take the law into their own hands, leading to anarchy and the disintegration of society.
Baguilat also reiterates his call for a Congressional investigation.
“I support the drive against crime, including the war on drugs, but the President has already acknowledged that there are extrajudicial killings happening and that he intends to investigate them, I as a member of Congress therefore reiterate that we, in Congress, should take the lead and start with our inquiry so we may contribute to solving and preventing extrajudicial killings,” Baguilat said.