2021 National Human Rights Situation Report 5 19 The Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Federation Chairperson of Lumban, Laguna was shot and killed by at least two gunmen who barged into his house on 13 April 2021. Renzo Matienzo was shot in front of his pregnant partner and his 4-year old child.3 Investigators found 10 empty shells from a .45-caliber gun at the scene. Police Capt. Jose Mari Peña said that politics and personal grudge may be motives in the attack, not disregarding illegal drugs due to narcotics trade happening in the town.4 20 In the last quarter of 2020, Harjan Pacyao Lagman was forcefully brought inside a red SUV along Irisan on 11 November 2020 was recorded by CHR Cordillera Administrative Region. His decapitated body was found the next day along Sitio Gulon, Ambassador, Tublay. As of 26 May 2021, Linda Lagman, the mother of the victim, has stated that months after the incident, they never managed to locate Harjan’s head.5 Two of the perpetrators were identified to be police officers from the Regional Drug Enforcement Unit of PROCOR.6 21 According to the data the CHR Regional Office III collected, a vast majority of the victims were males and all were killed during a buy-bust operation that turned into an armed encounter. Victims are classified in various ways such as a person in the drug watchlist, an alleged drug user or dealer, or a person who previously surrendered in drug operations. Almost all the victims who died of gunshot wounds were linked to police operations. The majority of the cases are pending and still under investigation while the rest were resolved and terminated. The majority of the respondents were identified as police officers from various cities in Region III, but some victims were killed by unidentified assailants. 7 22 A complaint was filed before CHR CARAGA alleging the desecration of the remains of a woman who died in an encounter between the AFP and forces of the New People’s Army (NPA). The woman who was killed was allegedly a member of the NPA. Photos of military members standing by the body of the woman and some items seized were posted in the social media accounts of Government news agencies. The complaint alleged that there was a desecration of the remains of the woman, that her body was being presented like a “trophy”, in violation of rules and the law. The case has been docketed, and investigated by this Office. 8 23 The CHR has observed that the killings in relation to the anti-illegal drug campaign have been widespread, spanning across almost all administrative regions of the country. The CHR recorded the highest number of these killings in NCR, Region III, and Region IV-A These regions have a combined total of 1,323 case dockets on drug-related killings as of 15 February 2020, covering 1,847 victims or 55% of all the reported victims nationwide. Seventy-six (76) percent of the total number of these case dockets from NCR, Region III, 3 Rappler. (2021, April). Youth leader gunned down in Laguna. https://www.rappler.com/nation/sangguniang-kabataanleader-renzo-matienzo-killed-lumban-laguna/ 4 Mallari, D. (2021). Youth leader shot dead in Laguna. Retrieved from https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1419727/youthleader-shot-dead-in-laguna-2 5 Alimondo, L. (2021). In Loving Memory. Retrieved from https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/multimedia/ slideshow/05/26/21/in-loving-memory 6 Commission on Human Rights Cordillera Administrative Region. (2021, January). Regional Human Rights Situation Report July to December 2020. 7 Commission on Human Rights Regional Office III. (2021, July). Human Rights Regional Situationer Report Region III – Central Luzon. 8 Commission on Human Rights CARAGA. (2021, July). The Situation of Human Rights in the CARAGA Region.