Mother Recounts Killing of 4 Sons in Davao Before Truth Commission

A 72-year-old mother whose four sons were killed in Davao City testified before the Truth Commission on extrajudicial killings on Friday, recounting alleged threats against her children and her decades-long search for justice. "If the accusations against my children were true, they should have been imprisoned, not killed," Nanay Alia said as translated by an interpreter during the Commission's hearing. Nanay Alia said she had been seeking justice for about 25 years for her sons Richard, Christopher, Bobby and Fernando, who were killed when they were still teenagers. In July 1997, Alia found her eldest son Richard dead with stab wounds. She said she later learned that Richard had allegedly been threatened by police before his death. "The police said he would kill my children one by one," Nanay Alia said. Christopher was 18 when he was killed in October 2001 also from stab wounds. After a year, Bobby, 14 years old, was killed after his arrest in November 2002. He was later found severely beaten and stabbed. Fernando, 15 years old, was also stabbed and died in April 2007. Nanay Alia said she believed the Davao Death Squad existed based on what she said she experienced and learned about the deaths of her children. "There are those who say that these DDS, the Davao Death Squad, are not real. No, they are real. Because I know them. I know their operation," she said. She added, "I only saw one of them, in the case of my children. The killing of Topher or Bobby. The one who killed him was a former prisoner. This is the DDS, a group of big, high-ranking police officers. Then they will hire other people. They will kill. So that they themselves are safe." Forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun said the killings of Alia’s children should have been thoroughly investigated. Fortun said Christopher had multiple stab wounds to the chest, including injuries affecting the heart and lungs, and a cut on his forearm that could be considered a defensive wound. "This means he was able to react when he was attacked. This is what we call a defensive wound," she said. Richard had facial injuries and a stab wound to the chest that allegedly affected his lung and caused internal bleeding. Both bodies had reportedly been embalmed before examination. The records reviewed appeared to have been prepared by one doctor and the reports contained limited information, according to Fortun. She said the Commission would seek additional records, including the death certificates of Bobby and Fernando, possible autopsy records, and hospital records concerning Fernando. Fortun said the similar use of sharp force injuries in the four deaths raised questions about whether the killings involved the same assailant or group. The Truth Commission was organized as an independent, civil society-led body tasked to find out the truth about "drug war" killings in the Philippines, restore dignity to the victims, and foster healing and reform.—LDF, GMA News