Justice and human rights advocates join the family and friends of Kian Loyd delos Santos in Barangay 160, Caloocan City on August 16, 2025 for a prayer vigil at the exact spot where the 17-year-old student was killed during an anti-drug operation. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News
MANILA — The family of Kian delos Santos welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the murder conviction of the three police officers involved in his killing.
The 17-year-old Delos Santos was killed in a Caloocan City alley in 2017. Police said he was a drug courier who fired at them while resisting arrest, but CCTV footage showed two of the officers dragging the unarmed boy moments before he was shot dead.
In a decision of the Supreme Court Second Division, police officers Arnel Oares, Jeremias Pereda and Jerwin Cruz were found guilty of murder and sentenced to reclusion perpetua or up to 40 years in prison.
“Masayang-masaya kasi matagal namin hinintay ito. Very vocal ako sa pagsasabi na kailangan makamit ang hustisya,” Delos Santos’ uncle Randy said Monday.
“Malamang masaya siya kasi gaya nga nang sinabi ko sa kanya nung dadalhin namin siya mag-asawa doon sa punenarya noong nabaril na siya… Sabi ko, ‘Nak hanggang humihinga ako, papapanagutin natin kung sino may gawa nito sa iyo.’ Walong taon ang hinintay namin, magsisiyam na,” he said.
The teenager had dreamed of becoming a policeman after graduating from high school.
“Sana ay nakamit niya yung mga pangarap niya na ninakaw sa kanya. Kung gusto niya magpulis, baka mag-aaral siya ng pagkapulis ngayon. Kasi yun ang pangarap niya,” Randy said.
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Rights groups estimate former President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-narcotics crackdown had killed tens of thousands of mostly poor men, often without proof they were linked to drugs.
Duterte is in the custody of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands and is facing charges of crimes against humanity.
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Delos Santos had been a “face” of the alleged extrajudicial killings in Duterte’s drug war, Randy noted.
“Inamin niya (Duterte) naman sa publiko at sa Senado na sinabi niya naman na ang naging kasalanan lang yata niya yung mga extrajudicial killing. At well, andon doon na siya. May mga kaso naman na kakaharapin siya,” Randy said.
Meanwhile, ICC Assistant to Counsel Atty. Kristina Conti said the Supreme Court ruling was “a Christmas wish come true” for families affected by the drug war.
“They have longed to see a conviction that will confirm their stories, their narrative… that many of the people killed during the drug war were killed defenseless. The charges are murder meaning they are intentional killings, not homicide… not napatay but pinatay,” she said.
The ICC has yet to give a ruling on whether Duterte is fit to stand trial. A ruling in October rejected claims by his defense that the ICC was not competent to judge Duterte on three charges of crimes against humanity.
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INDEPENDENT BODY FOR EJK VICTIMS
Meanwhile, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) backed the proposed creation of an independent truth commission that would look into extrajudicial killings during the previous Duterte administration, following the Supreme Court’s decision.
In a release on Monday, the SC said treachery was present when Delos Santos was shot during an anti-drug operation as he was not in a position to defend himself.
Asked about his thoughts on the High Court’s decision, PCO Secretary Dave Gomez told Palace reporters that they still “need to review” the document.
“This development underscores the need to consider the proposal from the church, civil society, and some members of Congress for an independent Truth Commission to probe more deeply into these extra judicial killings,” Gomez said in a text message.
In November, Caloocan Bishop Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David wrote a letter to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. asking him to create a truth commission that will investigate the full extent of the war on drugs.
Cardinal David and leaders of civil society organizations and families of EJK victims said the body does not seek vengeance, rather, it wants to “establish truth, promote accountability, extend compassion to victims, and help our country move forward with honesty and moral clarity.”
It can also recommend reparations and psychosocial support for victims’ families and propose institutional reforms to ensure such abuses never happen again.
— With a report from Agence France-Presse