She saw him, and she instantly knew.While at the morgue, Jocelyn’s aunt got a call from a family member. "We’re at the police headquarters. Only two of your brothers are here," she was told. "Joseph is missing."The body was covered by a white sheet, the feet sticking out from underneath. They were wrapped in packing tape. She asked to see the body. The crew pulled back the cloth. The corpse was wet. The victim’s eyes had been gouged out. Some of his teeth had been removed. His penis was exposed because his pants were unzipped. His nails were dark.
THE DUTERTE DRUG WAR
"The Marcos era left us with deep wounds and scars but this is far worse in comparison," he said, referring to the dictatorship of former president Ferdinand Marcos. "This is systematic, legitimate lawfare being done in front of our eyes, 24/7.”Father Villanueva said his psycho-spiritual intervention program Paghilom has aided close to 150 women, and about 60 children and teenagers orphaned by the drug war, but that number "has not even scratched the surface.""You have a good chunk of people going through the next generation with these scars," he said. "99% of those killed are breadwinners. Multiply each death by five, because each family will have at least three to five younger children, siblings or nephews they’re caring for."VICE News spoke to women about the drug war as seen through their eyes, describing the moment they learned of their loved ones’ deaths, and how their lives have been upended by their respective tragedies. Their accounts paint a disturbing picture of collective trauma, and the long-term impact of extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration."When I listen to their stories, I realize: this is hell on earth," Father Flavie Villanueva, who started a Church program to help women and children widowed and orphaned by the drug war, told VICE News.
MURDER IN BROAD DAYLIGHT
On the Sunday he died, Jessie had planned to buy a bag of rice for Marilyn and himself. He had time to kill until she’d be home, so he walked over to his friend’s shanty at around 2pm to play pool with four buddies. The shanty was on the foot of a hill, by a ravine. It was made of a patchwork of plywood, plastic, and other light materials.It was 3pm when they came: five armed men in civilian clothes. One of them carried a wicker basket with a rooster inside. Some of the other men had guns. They barged in and pointed their guns at Jessie and his friends. "Don’t move!" they yelled. Jessie and his friends froze and held up their hands in surrender.A few months before he died, Jessie walked over to Marilyn and showed her a news clip on his phone, about the drug war’s latest victim. "Babe, look at this. He was sleeping when he was shot," he told her. Soon, reports that even former drug users were being gunned down filled the headlines. Jessie asked Marilyn if they could leave Payatas. They agreed that Jessie would return to his hometown in December, where his family lived, and that Marilyn would follow. But Jessie never made it home. He was murdered in August.
More chilling are the particular wounds sustained by… Jessie Cule; [they] not only prove that murder was committed, these also show that the victims were killed execution-style.
As Jessie knelt lifeless, his chest to the ground, Marilyn got a call on her cellphone at work. It was her landlord. "There’s been an emergency," the landlord said, "You have to come home.”When Marilyn got to the crime scene around 4pm, a crowd had formed, and the police had cordoned off the area. They wouldn’t let her identify the body. When SOCO came, they retrieved the corpses one by one. There were five victims, but only four bodies.He was shot on the right deltoid directly downwards, making an exit wound at his lower spinal area. Again, this shows that he was shot point blank in the right shoulder while he was kneeling down.
Outside, I heard many gunshots fired. I heard many voices raised – some angry, some crying pitifully. I heard someone say: “Away with them and just say they fought back. Plant the evidence.”
While the armed men were outside, I mustered the courage to move. I crawled out of the room towards a ravine that was only three meters away. I pressed my hand on my chest wound and rolled down the ravine. I landed on the side of the creek at the bottom of the ravine.
The document also says it wasn’t until around midnight when he finally received proper medical treatment, about nine hours after being shot. He was in the hospital for 10 days, where cops tracked him down and filed a case against him.I prayed to live in order that I may see my little children grow up and that I may seek justice for [my companions] who were murdered.
According to the policemen, I allegedly resisted arrest and fought back during a [drug] operation. They also allege that I was the only one who survived the gunfight between me and my companions, and the policemen. The policemen even gave interviews that said that we were caught in the act of using drugs, and that we were notorious drug suspects and even hold-uppers.
It’s the execution-style killing that hurts Marilyn the most. The image of Jessie on his knees, in his singlet and black shorts, terrified and crying, is etched in her mind. If they were going to kill him anyway, she wishes they had just shot him instantly, rather than let him beg for his life.
THOUSANDS OF DEATHS, ONE CONVICTION
Personnel of PCP-7 Drug Enforcement Unit led by PO3 Arnel Oares and 10 others were conducting One Time Big Time Operation threat, when the above named suspect noticed the presence of approaching police officers…
Suspect drew his firearm and directly shot toward the lawmen but missed prompting PO3 Oares to return fire in order to prevent and repel the latter’s unlawful aggression as their lives were in imminent danger thereby hitting the same suspect on his body that resulted in his instantaneous death.
He also had a pistol in his left hand. Kian was right-handed.His corpse was found in a fetal position, wearing pajamas – a blue shirt and printed boxers. He died of three gunshots: one in his back, two in his head. The autopsy revealed that he was face-down on the ground when the first two shots were fired. He was shot a third time – the bullet entering his left ear and exiting the right side of his head.
PART III: BEYOND THE DRUG WAR
"The implications are vast," Dr. Nicole Curato, a sociologist and Associate Professor at the University of Canberra, told VICE News. "This corrodes trust in institutions like the police that are supposed to protect us. It also weakens the fabric of community life, where instead of neighbors providing mutual support to each other, they are now turned against each other to report suspected drug dealers," she added. "It's hard to repair these relationships."Curato, who has conducted research focused on the Philippine drug war, said it will leave different legacies in women's lives. "Some choose to stay quiet and focus on rebuilding their own lives while others decide to speak up, tell their stories, and demand justice. Both impacts are burdensome for women. It requires so much emotional strength to grieve and process a traumatic experience – whether one stays quiet or speaks up," she said."But both impacts also demonstrate how women are able to assert their identities not as victims but as survivors. Reclaiming the narrative is crucial.”But the repercussions of the drug war will extend long after Duterte steps down and a new President takes over.
Marilyn says she would drop the case if the cops would admit they lied about what happened. She just wants them to stop saying their victims fought back, and to stop murdering people. "I feel for those who have been left behind,” she says. "Especially the children."Children like Jocelyn.Jocelyn is now 11 years old and in fifth grade. Before he died, her grandfather used to walk her to school every day. Her aunt takes care of her now; another mouth to feed, on top of three children."I’ll wait for as long as I can," she says, determined to clear his name. "Jessie was a good person."