Truth Commission launched to document PHL drug war killings

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

An independent, civilian-led Truth Commission has been formally launched to establish a credible public record of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.

The truth-seeking body aims to document killings linked to the country’s “war on drugs,” center survivors, and recommend accountability, reparations, institutional reform, and safeguards against recurrence.

Its creation comes as the Philippines marks nearly a decade since drug war-related killings escalated nationwide in 2016, at the start of the Duterte presidency.

The commission acknowledges that the violence did not begin in 2016, but said the scale, persistence, and targeted nature of the killings in recent years have left thousands of families still seeking truth, justice, and healing.

Former International Criminal Court judge Raul Pangalangan will serve as chairman of the commission and as its commissioner for legal affairs and due process, safeguarding due process, ethical standards, and the legal integrity of its processes and outputs.

“The Truth Commission was created to ensure that the stories of victims, survivors, and families are heard, verified, and preserved. This is not about replacing the courts or assigning guilt. It is about building a credible truth record that can guide accountability, healing, reform, and the prevention of future violence,” Pangalangan said.

Cardinal Pablo “Ambo” David will serve as adviser, acting as an independent moral and institutional guide to help safeguard the integrity, independence, and mission of the commission, particularly on truth-seeking, due process, survivor protection, confidentiality, public trust, and institutional independence.

Pangalangan will be joined by four other civilian commissioners.

Raquel Barros del Rosario-Fortun will serve as commissioner for forensic sciences and independent investigation, helping advance credible fact-finding standards, forensic review protocols, and evidence protection.

Al Fuertes will serve as commissioner for psychosocial support and trauma healing, guiding trauma-informed practice, survivor protection, psychosocial protocols, and healing and recovery support.

Fr. Daniel Franklin E. Pilario, CM, will serve as commissioner for church and education, truth literacy, and institutional reform, helping lead truth literacy, prevention strategies, public education, and institutional reform recommendations.

Carlos Conde will serve as commissioner for public documentation, transparency, and democratic accountability, setting standards for public documentation, reporting, accessibility, transparency, and non-partisan public communication. Conde will also serve as the commission’s executive director.

The commissioners will provide civilian leadership and overall direction for the body, including approving policies and standards, convening and chairing national truth hearings, adopting findings and reports, authorizing referrals and recommendations, and leading public engagement while maintaining independence from government control.

A key part of the commission’s work will be public truth hearings, which may be public, semi-public, closed, anonymized, or representative depending on survivor consent, safety considerations, and risk assessment.

Conducted under non-adversarial rules and survivor-centered safeguards, the hearings aim to document lived experiences, institutional patterns, historical context, and the social impacts of violence in a safe, dignified, and non-adversarial environment.

Participants may include victims, survivors, affected families, community representatives, witnesses, former participants in violence, heads of institutions, government officials, subject-matter experts, academics, historians, researchers, psychosocial practitioners, faith leaders, civil society organizations, and members of the media, subject to informed consent, confidentiality protocols, and survivor-protection measures.

The commission will also prepare referral-ready packages and evidence-based recommendations for relevant institutions, including oversight bodies and agencies such as the Commission on Human Rights, the National Police Commission (Napolcom), the Department of Justice, the National Bureau of Investigation, and other lawful recipient institutions.

It is expected to submit periodic reports of its findings and recommendations every six months to appropriate bodies, including Napolcom, Congress, and the president, and to submit a final report at the end of its tenure. The reports will be made available to the public, subject to data privacy and confidentiality requirements.

“The truth must be protected not only as a matter of record, but as a matter of dignity for the families who have carried these stories for years. The Truth Commission exists so these stories can be heard, verified, preserved, and acted upon,” David said.