Fuerzas filipinas asaltan alcalde narcotraficante y matan a todos

A police raid kills a Filipino mayor and much of his family

The authorities say he was a narcotics boss; his daughter says he was framed
The Economist



MANILA. ARMED police raid the base of a narcotics kingpin masquerading as a civic leader and are met by a hail of gunfire, which they return, killing the gang boss and his thugs—Filipinos see such fare at the cinema and in television dramas all the time.

In essence, that is also the official version of events that unfolded in Ozamiz, a city on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, on July 30th. It was just the sort of action voters expected to see lots of when they made Rodrigo Duterte president last year, after he vowed to wage war on drugs. Instead, they have mainly witnessed vicious skirmishes in slums that leave addicts and petty pushers dead at the hands of the police or murderers unknown.

The police say that in the middle of the night, officers with warrants to search for illegal drugs and firearms raided properties belonging to the mayor of Ozamiz, Reynaldo Parojinog, or his relatives. Armed men at the mayor’s house opened fire at the raiding officers, they claim, starting a gun battle. Mr Parojinog, his wife, two of his siblings and 11 other people were killed, but no policemen. The mayor’s daughter, who is the vice-mayor of Ozamiz, and one of his sons were arrested. Firearms and illegal drugs were seized, the police say.

The mayor’s name is on a list of officials whom Mr Duterte suspects of threatening the fabric of the nation by dealing in illegal drugs, mainly methamphetamine. Mr Parojinog denied that he was a narco-politician. But the mayor knew his family’s reputation put him in the police’s sights. Mr Parojinog’s father was the first boss of the Kuratong Baleleng gang, a private army given weapons by the security forces in the 1980s to fight communist guerrillas on Mindanao. The gang later turned to crime, prospering through robbery, kidnapping and drug-running. After his father and elder brother met violent ends, Mr Parojinog became head of the family, which turned to local politics. It showered wealth on voters in and around Ozamiz to win office and, cynics claimed, to make it awkward for the authorities to pursue them.

Many voiced scepticism about the police’s account of the Ozamiz raids. Human Rights Watch, an NGO, asked why security cameras at Mr Parojinog’s house were put out of action, and said the vice-mayor had accused the police of planting the drugs found. But Mr Duterte scoffs at defenders of human rights, arguing that it is the drug dealers who show little respect for humanity. The president was himself formerly the mayor of a city on Mindanao, an island tormented by violence committed by communist insurgents, Muslim separatists, jihadist terrorists, common criminals and the security forces. A recent opinion poll found that 82% of Filipinos approve of Mr Duterte’s performance as president, suggesting that they share his view.