CinemaBravo

Filipino photojournalist Ezra Acayan has once again turned the spotlight on the darkest chapters of the country’s drug war, revisiting some of the killings that occurred during the term of then-Philippine National Police (PNP) chief and now-Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa.

In a recent Facebook post, Acayan unearthed a collection of haunting photographs and a video clip—gripping reminders of the thousands of lives lost during the Duterte administration’s violent anti-drug campaign. Among the stories he shared was that of Leah Espiritu, a mother of six who was accused of selling small amounts of illegal drugs. She was fatally shot while doing her laundry just outside her home.

Acayan, whose work has captured the raw brutality of the campaign against narcotics, continues to use his platform to amplify the voices of the victims and remind the public of the human cost behind the statistics.

“It was just one of too many funerals I covered during the drug war. I may have lost my sanity at some point—not because of what I was seeing, but because so many others saw this and thought it was the right thing,” Acayan said.

He also shared a photo of the funeral of Aldrin Pineda, a 13-year-old boy who was shot dead by a police officer while playing outside his house. The policeman claimed he accidentally tripped and fired his gun.

Acayan also posted a picture of the lifeless body of construction worker Gilbert Beguelme slumping on the hood of a jeepney after he was shot by unknown assailants. The victim was previously warned by his siblings to stop using illegal drugs.

These three killings occurred between 2016 and 2018, during Dela Rosa’s tenure as Duterte’s PNP chief and the chief enforcer of the administration’s brutal war on drugs.

The Senator earlier declared that he would seek refuge from the Senate should the ICC issue the warrant for his arrest, but he recently changed his tune, insisting that he’s contemplating evading arrest.

Earlier, a political analyst has cautioned against Dela Rosa’s attempts to frame himself as a victim of persecution, suggesting that he is seeking to garner the same support and sympathy that Duterte continues to receive from his loyal base.

“Sen. Dela Rosa’s disposition these days is to make it appear that he too is being persecuted by Duterte’s rivals with the hope of getting the same support or sympathy that Rody is enjoying nowadays, as we are seeing with the intensified online operations to boost their image and popularity,” said Arjan Aguirre, assistant professor at the Ateneo de Manila University.

“As a candidate, I’m sure he is being advised to say or do things that can be related to the Dutertes and the controversies that they are facing,” he added.