Senator Risa Hontiveros has sought a Senate probe into the spate of killings involving children and youth, the latest involving a 15-year old who was shot in the abdomen by a police officer. 

“The violent killings of society’s most vulnerable—our children and youth—many perpetrated by officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP), has resulted in a creeping culture of fear and distrust of law enforcement in our communities,” Hontiveros said in her Senate Resolution No. 776. 

The deputy minority leader also cited the case of 17-year old Jemboy Baltazar in Navotas, who was killed also by cops in a case of mistaken identity. 

But the case of 15-year old John Frances who was shot in the stomach by police officer Cpl. Arnulfo Sabillo, was again claimed to be “accidental.”

“The second ‘accidental death’ of a youth at the hands of police in a matter of weeks, and echoing Jemboy’s murder, Cpl. Sabillo had likewise, been found guilty of administrative offenses—having been previously suspended twice and arrested for alarm and scandal,” the senator noted. 

The Senate Committee on Women and Children chairperson noted that based on independent reports, at least 129 children were killed in 2016 and 2020, and almost 40 percent of child killings were carried out by police officers.

While the rest were killed by unknown assailants, “some of them with direct links to the police.”

“The 1987 Constitution declares that the prime duty of the government is to serve and protect and guarantee that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law,” she pointed out.

Hontiveros also pointed out that the Philippines is signatory to the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child, which mandates state parties to recognize every child’s inherent right to life and shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child. 

The senator also noted that these killings involving Filipino youth happen even when the Philippines already has existing laws ensuring the safety of children. 

This includes the Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act (Republic Act No. 7610); the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004 (RA. No. 9262); and the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 (RA No. 9344), Hontiveros said.