Posted on Jan 4, 2024
Philippines: Bone diggers seek justice for dead in Duterte's drug war
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At Manila North Cemetery, Father Flavie Villanueva - Bible in one hand, and a plastic bottle of holy water in his pocket - prays with a bereaved mother beside her son's grave.
They watch as the front of the vault to the grave is hammered off. Inside are the remains of Felizardo Virgo, shot dead on 18 August, 2019, aged 27.
His corpse is carefully removed and placed inside a black body bag. Before it's zipped shut, Father Flavie checks the tomb to ensure every bit of the skeletonised remains has been removed - even a tiny piece of bone might reveal something more about the shooting.
Erlinda hopes her son's bones will speak; that they will deliver justice for families like hers - thousands of them - who have lost their loved ones to a ruthless "war on drugs" in the Philippines.
At the forefront of this effort are Father Flavie and a forensic pathologist, Dr Raquel Fortun, who have joined forces to collect evidence that may one day be used in a judicial inquiry into these deaths.
They watch as the front of the vault to the grave is hammered off. Inside are the remains of Felizardo Virgo, shot dead on 18 August, 2019, aged 27.
His corpse is carefully removed and placed inside a black body bag. Before it's zipped shut, Father Flavie checks the tomb to ensure every bit of the skeletonised remains has been removed - even a tiny piece of bone might reveal something more about the shooting.
Erlinda hopes her son's bones will speak; that they will deliver justice for families like hers - thousands of them - who have lost their loved ones to a ruthless "war on drugs" in the Philippines.
At the forefront of this effort are Father Flavie and a forensic pathologist, Dr Raquel Fortun, who have joined forces to collect evidence that may one day be used in a judicial inquiry into these deaths.
Philippines: Bone diggers seek justice for dead in Duterte's drug war
Posted from bbc.comPosted in these groups: 
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Philippines
Posted 5 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."There have been a tiny handful of cases, where police officers have been arrested.
Six were taken into custody and face murder charges in the death of Jerhode "Jemboy" Baltazar, a 17-year-old fisherman who was gunned down in broad daylight in the neighbourhood of Navotas in Metro Manila last August.
Mistaking him for a murder suspect they were chasing, the police shot Jemboy as he was cleaning his fishing boat. He fell into the water. But police made no attempt to pull him out. It was Jemboy's uncle who retrieved his corpse hours later.
When Father Flavie heard the story, he arranged the removal of Jemboy's body from the funeral home to Dr Fortun's morgue.
She concluded the gunshot to Jemboy's head hadn't caused death outright. And that if the police had pulled him out of the water, "potentially he could have survived".
"So, he drowned because he fell in the water, because he was shot in the head. We classify this as homicide," she says.
Getty Images Flavie Villanueva, a Catholic priest who has been helping orphans and widows of the drug war, places a list of names of drug war victims inside an urn during the groundbreaking for the first ever memorial for victims of the drug war at the La Loma Catholic Cemetery on December 11, 2023 in Caloocan, Metro ManilaGetty Images
Then Dr Fortun got some unwelcome visitors. Firstly, from the Navotas police - the precinct responsible for the shooting. And secondly, from the state prosecutor. Both wanted the autopsy report.
"This is enough - I'm being harassed," thought Dr Fortun. In the Philippines, the assassination of public figures isn't unheard of. She took to X, formerly Twitter, telling her 170,000 followers about the visits, adding she was putting the information out there for whatever protection it may afford her.
Father Flavie is still managing the fallout from the shooting. Jemboy's relatives were allegedly being watched. Now the family is living in a secret location paid for by funds raised by the priest.
With no sign of Mr Duterte being held accountable, "everyone is hoping the ICC will step in," Dr Fortun says. She is ready.
Father Flavie, too, is optimistic the victims of Mr Duterte's drug war will see justice.
"One family at a time, one soul at a time."...
..."There have been a tiny handful of cases, where police officers have been arrested.
Six were taken into custody and face murder charges in the death of Jerhode "Jemboy" Baltazar, a 17-year-old fisherman who was gunned down in broad daylight in the neighbourhood of Navotas in Metro Manila last August.
Mistaking him for a murder suspect they were chasing, the police shot Jemboy as he was cleaning his fishing boat. He fell into the water. But police made no attempt to pull him out. It was Jemboy's uncle who retrieved his corpse hours later.
When Father Flavie heard the story, he arranged the removal of Jemboy's body from the funeral home to Dr Fortun's morgue.
She concluded the gunshot to Jemboy's head hadn't caused death outright. And that if the police had pulled him out of the water, "potentially he could have survived".
"So, he drowned because he fell in the water, because he was shot in the head. We classify this as homicide," she says.
Getty Images Flavie Villanueva, a Catholic priest who has been helping orphans and widows of the drug war, places a list of names of drug war victims inside an urn during the groundbreaking for the first ever memorial for victims of the drug war at the La Loma Catholic Cemetery on December 11, 2023 in Caloocan, Metro ManilaGetty Images
Then Dr Fortun got some unwelcome visitors. Firstly, from the Navotas police - the precinct responsible for the shooting. And secondly, from the state prosecutor. Both wanted the autopsy report.
"This is enough - I'm being harassed," thought Dr Fortun. In the Philippines, the assassination of public figures isn't unheard of. She took to X, formerly Twitter, telling her 170,000 followers about the visits, adding she was putting the information out there for whatever protection it may afford her.
Father Flavie is still managing the fallout from the shooting. Jemboy's relatives were allegedly being watched. Now the family is living in a secret location paid for by funds raised by the priest.
With no sign of Mr Duterte being held accountable, "everyone is hoping the ICC will step in," Dr Fortun says. She is ready.
Father Flavie, too, is optimistic the victims of Mr Duterte's drug war will see justice.
"One family at a time, one soul at a time."...
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