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![The police didn't let Gigi attend to Sammer's funeral. Her case was classified in section 5/11. Section five is for drug dealers, and 11 for users.]()
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The police didn't let Gigi attend to Sammer's funeral. Her case was classified in section 5/11.
Section five is for drug dealers, and 11 for users.
![Chilotte and Sammer had their first child in 2007, Ron Carlo. Sammer had had his name tattooed on his chest.]()
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![For a while after the killing Chilotte has could count on the help of relatives and neighbors.]()
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![After three years of execution, the Pandacan district was declared "drugs free zone".]()
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![Chilotte's daughter, Cathleen , at the Feast of Saint Ignatius in Pandacan. Human rights Watch reported that many children have suffered psychological distress, and all experienced economic hardship made worse by the death of a family breadwinner.]()
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![After Sammer's death Chilotte tightens a relationship with her neighbor, shabu addicted too, and became pregnant of her sixth child, Caleb.]()
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![Families have been wary about approaching the government for help because they consider the police and other government officials to be responsible for the loss they have suffered. This leaves the children and their families left with only programs supported by civic and nongovernmental groups, particularly those from the Roman Catholic Church and a few Protestant and ecumenical groups. Human Rights Watch]()
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![Duterte’s war on drugs has left thousands of children living as orphans or in single-parent families struggling to put food on the table.]()
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![In some communities where violence is frequent, parish priests and lay workers have been leading the effort to help by providing psycho-social (mental health) support, economic assistance, support for children to attend school, and help in finding and supporting livelihoods for affected families. Human Rights Watch]()
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![“Filipino children have suffered horribly from President Duterte’s decision to unleash the police and their hit men against suspected drug users,” said Carlos Conde, Philippines researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The government needs to stop this endless violence that is upending children’s lives and direct assistance to the children harmed.” Human Rights Watch]()
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![Charlotte is now the only one in the house to bring the salary, sustaining the mother-in-law and her six children.]()
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![Gigi is 54 years old. Sammer was his only son, born of a relationship with a Jordanian student, who died of illness a few years ago. He never saw his son, nor did he ever give financial help.]()
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Requiem For a Dream
Over the last few years, Philippine's President Duterte has been ‘cleansing’ the country from drug dealers and drugs users with his death squads.
Police estimate more than 5,000 suspected and addicts have been killed since President Duterte took office in 2016, but according to Human Rights Group since the “war on drugs” began, 22.983 deaths are classified as “homicides under investigation.”
Sammer Torculas was among these.
Half Phillipino and half Jordanian, he was dragged into the Drug business by Gigi, his mother, who made her living by selling Shabu.
Shabu it's a slang term used to call the methamphetamine used in Japan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Shabu began in the 1990s as the drug of choice among the affluent, but over the past decade it has filtered down into the masses and has become very popular among the lower classes. It has come to be known as “the poor man’s cocaine”.
Despite the warning of the police, Sammer continued to sell meth in his own neighborhood in Pandacan, a district in Manila, , and on December of 2016 he was shot in front of his house by the Death Squads, although he was unarmed and begged for mercy.
Immediately following his death, Sammer's mother Gigi was jailed for drug possession and transferred to the main prison in Manila, where she served time for for possession and dealing of drugs.
For nine years Sammer had a stable relationship with Chilotte Flaviano, who gave him five children.
Since the beginning Chilotte asked Sammer and his mother repeatedly to quit the drug business, but without success.
After Sammer’s death and the arrest of her mother-in-law, Chilotte has remained the only one to look after her five children, without any fixed income, struggling every day to survive.
In the same year she has started a relationship with her neighbor, who was also a Shabu addict, and became pregnant of her sixth child, Caleb.
The relationship ended soon.
After two years, Gigi was released from prison due to her critical heath condition and has returned to live in Pandacan, with the daughter in law and her six grandchildren.
Her health deteriorated during the two years in prison, but she takes care of the babies, the only legacy of her beloved son, while Chilotte works to pay for food and bills.
Duterte’s war on drugs has left thousands of children living as orphans or in single-parent families struggling to put food on the table.
Human Rights Watch investigated the killings of adults in which police showed little to no regard for the safety and welfare of children, often conducting raids in the middle of the night while the entire family was at home. In many raids, children witnessed the killing of a parent, or were present while their parent was dragged away and shot.
Just like what happened to Sammer's family.
The loss of a parent who is the main breadwinner can plunge an already impoverished family into even more extreme poverty.
Many children are left with no choice but to work, and some end up homeless and living in the streets, further exposing themselves to danger, violence, and criminal activity.
Human Rights Watch called on the Philippine government to end its abusive anti-drug campaign and investigate and prosecute those responsible for killings and other human rights violations.
The UN Human Rights Council should establish an independent international investigative mechanism into extrajudicial killings and other violations committed in the context of the “war on drugs” since June 2016.
Police estimate more than 5,000 suspected and addicts have been killed since President Duterte took office in 2016, but according to Human Rights Group since the “war on drugs” began, 22.983 deaths are classified as “homicides under investigation.”
Sammer Torculas was among these.
Half Phillipino and half Jordanian, he was dragged into the Drug business by Gigi, his mother, who made her living by selling Shabu.
Shabu it's a slang term used to call the methamphetamine used in Japan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Shabu began in the 1990s as the drug of choice among the affluent, but over the past decade it has filtered down into the masses and has become very popular among the lower classes. It has come to be known as “the poor man’s cocaine”.
Despite the warning of the police, Sammer continued to sell meth in his own neighborhood in Pandacan, a district in Manila, , and on December of 2016 he was shot in front of his house by the Death Squads, although he was unarmed and begged for mercy.
Immediately following his death, Sammer's mother Gigi was jailed for drug possession and transferred to the main prison in Manila, where she served time for for possession and dealing of drugs.
For nine years Sammer had a stable relationship with Chilotte Flaviano, who gave him five children.
Since the beginning Chilotte asked Sammer and his mother repeatedly to quit the drug business, but without success.
After Sammer’s death and the arrest of her mother-in-law, Chilotte has remained the only one to look after her five children, without any fixed income, struggling every day to survive.
In the same year she has started a relationship with her neighbor, who was also a Shabu addict, and became pregnant of her sixth child, Caleb.
The relationship ended soon.
After two years, Gigi was released from prison due to her critical heath condition and has returned to live in Pandacan, with the daughter in law and her six grandchildren.
Her health deteriorated during the two years in prison, but she takes care of the babies, the only legacy of her beloved son, while Chilotte works to pay for food and bills.
Duterte’s war on drugs has left thousands of children living as orphans or in single-parent families struggling to put food on the table.
Human Rights Watch investigated the killings of adults in which police showed little to no regard for the safety and welfare of children, often conducting raids in the middle of the night while the entire family was at home. In many raids, children witnessed the killing of a parent, or were present while their parent was dragged away and shot.
Just like what happened to Sammer's family.
The loss of a parent who is the main breadwinner can plunge an already impoverished family into even more extreme poverty.
Many children are left with no choice but to work, and some end up homeless and living in the streets, further exposing themselves to danger, violence, and criminal activity.
Human Rights Watch called on the Philippine government to end its abusive anti-drug campaign and investigate and prosecute those responsible for killings and other human rights violations.
The UN Human Rights Council should establish an independent international investigative mechanism into extrajudicial killings and other violations committed in the context of the “war on drugs” since June 2016.
Shabu's trade is highly profitable because it does not require large capital investments.
Sammer was killed by two gunshots in the lungs, at night time, in front of his house, while his children were inside.
He didn't try to defend himself, but he begged the police not to kill him.
He didn't try to defend himself, but he begged the police not to kill him.
Chillote, Sammer's widow, prepare food to take to prison for her mother-in-law, Gigi.
The police didn't let Gigi attend to Sammer's funeral. Her case was classified in section 5/11.
Section five is for drug dealers, and 11 for users.
Chilotte and Sammer had their first child in 2007, Ron Carlo.
Sammer had had his name tattooed on his chest.
Sammer had had his name tattooed on his chest.
For a while after the killing Chilotte has could count on the help of relatives and neighbors.
After three years of execution, the Pandacan district was declared "drugs free zone".
Chilotte's daughter, Cathleen , at the Feast of Saint Ignatius in Pandacan.
Human rights Watch reported that many children have suffered psychological distress, and all experienced economic hardship made worse by the death of a family breadwinner.
Human rights Watch reported that many children have suffered psychological distress, and all experienced economic hardship made worse by the death of a family breadwinner.
After Sammer's death Chilotte tightens a relationship with her neighbor, shabu addicted too, and became pregnant of her sixth child, Caleb.
Families have been wary about approaching the government for help because they consider the police and other government officials to be responsible for the loss they have suffered. This leaves the children and their families left with only programs supported by civic and nongovernmental groups, particularly those from the Roman Catholic Church and a few Protestant and ecumenical groups.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Duterte’s war on drugs has left thousands of children living as orphans or in single-parent families struggling to put food on the table.
In some communities where violence is frequent, parish priests and lay workers have been leading the effort to help by providing psycho-social (mental health) support, economic assistance, support for children to attend school, and help in finding and supporting livelihoods for affected families.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
“Filipino children have suffered horribly from President Duterte’s decision to unleash the police and their hit men against suspected drug users,” said Carlos Conde, Philippines researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The government needs to stop this endless violence that is upending children’s lives and direct assistance to the children harmed.”
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Charlotte is now the only one in the house to bring the salary, sustaining the mother-in-law and her six children.
Gigi is 54 years old. Sammer was his only son, born of a relationship with a Jordanian student, who died of illness a few years ago. He never saw his son, nor did he ever give financial help.
