Since President Duterte declared a war on drugs when he took over the presidency in July, Donna Pinga has lost two uncles, both of them alleged drug pushers.
One of them, Edwin Pinga, was on his way to the bakery to buy bread at 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 17 when he was shot by a man in a white van on Dr. Sixto Antonio Avenue in Barangay Rosario, Pasig City.
According to the Pasig police, Pinga was a drug pusher whose name was on their watch list.
At 11:15 p.m. Monday, another of Donna鈥檚 uncles was killed by bonnet-wearing gunmen inside his house in Purok 5, Barangay Maybunga, Pasig City. Bernie Halcon, 47, died on the spot, along with three other friends.
According to Donna, Halcon was a single man who enjoyed the company of his three friends and his dog Blackie.
The dog, also one of the witnesses to the killings, has not moved since from the bottom of the stairs leading to the second floor where his owner was killed.
鈥淢aybe he is waiting for Uncle Bernie to come home. We don鈥檛 know how to tell him he鈥檚 gone,鈥� Donna said.
According to Halcon鈥檚 neighbors who refused to be identified for fear of their lives, six men on three motorcycles went inside their compound, two of them remaining at the entrance to serve as lookouts.
At that time, Halcon was watching television with his 18-year-old niece and her friend, in addition to his friends: Roland Santos of Barangay Rosario, alias Onay of Barangay Caniogan and alias Jayson of Cubao, Quezon City.
All of them were herded upstairs to the second floor of the house where Halcon鈥檚 niece and friend were ordered to go inside one of the rooms. They were not harmed.
Halcon and his friends, however, were shot dead. Crime scene operatives later recovered 29 slugs and casings from an unknown firearm, as well as a sachet of what was believed to be 鈥渟habu鈥� (methamphetamine hydrochloride).
A police investigation showed that Halcon was a drug pusher whose name was on the barangay鈥檚 drug watchlist.
Barangay officials, however, said that Halcon had earlier surrendered under 鈥淥plan Tokhang鈥� as a drug user, not as a pusher. But one official said he did not know that the victim was involved in illegal drugs, adding that he thought Halcon was a professional 鈥渢ambay鈥� (bum).
Santos, on the hand, was a 鈥渟elf-confessed鈥� drug user and pusher who had also surrendered to authorities.
The police report, meanwhile, mistakenly identified Jayson as a resident of Maybunga and a drug pusher in the barangay. Local officials, however, said that he was there to have his business permit processed because he wanted to store vegetables in Halcon鈥檚 house.
Donna said she was hurt when people, especially the police, were quick to brand her uncle a drug pusher.
鈥淗e used to be a pusher but he cleaned up his act. Why was he not given a chance to change for the better?鈥� Donna asked. She lamented that the police used the same 鈥渟cript鈥� when her other uncle was killed.
鈥淲e already know that we cannot get justice because no one identified the killers. We just want my uncle鈥檚 name to be cleared,鈥� she told the Inquirer.