Ten years after the Philippine government’s anti-drug campaign began in 2016, an independent, civil-society-led Truth Commission will hold its first Public Truth-Telling Session on Friday, August 14, opening a public process to document the experiences of victims, survivors, and families affected by the killings.
At the center of the first session will be Luzviminda Siapo, whose 18-year-old son, Raymart Siapo, was abducted and killed in Navotas City on March 29, 2017.
Raymart, who had a congenital clubfoot that affected his ability to walk and run, was taken hours after a neighbor accused him of selling marijuana. Witnesses said his captors ordered him to run before shooting him twice in the head. Because of his disability, running was nearly impossible.
In the hours before he was taken, Raymart had been preparing to begin work with his uncle the following morning. His mother also recalls that he had spoken about continuing his education and completing his studies.
Forensic pathologist and Truth Commission member Dr. Raquel Fortun is expected to present findings from the exhumation and forensic examination of Raymart’s remains requested by the Commission.
Together, Luzviminda Siapo’s testimony, accounts from family members and witnesses, and the forensic findings will place both a family’s lived experience and scientific evidence into the public record.
The session will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center on UN Avenue in Manila. A livestream is planned on the Truth Commission’s YouTube and Facebook platforms and on its website.
Journalists planning to cover the session are requested to register here or email the commission at media@truthcommission.ph.
A Mother Thousands of Kilometers Away
At the time Raymart was killed, Luzviminda was working as a domestic worker in Kuwait to support her family.
She learned that something had happened to her son through messages from relatives and friends in the Philippines. Still struggling to believe that Raymart was dead, she asked her family to send her a photograph. The image confirmed what she feared: the son she had spoken with only hours earlier had been killed.
Thousands of kilometers from home, Luzviminda could do little but grieve and plead to be allowed to return to the Philippines. She recalls crying through the night and continuing her household work the following morning while mourning her son.
Her employer initially did not believe that her son had died and did not immediately allow her to leave. Luzviminda repeatedly pleaded to be released from her employment so she could return home. Eventually, she was given a ticket back to the Philippines, leaving behind wages and belongings because, as she later recalled, what mattered most was getting home to her children and to Raymart.
Her journey home forms part of the testimony she will share publicly on August 14—not only about the killing of her son, but about the ordeal of a mother who learned of his death while working abroad and struggled simply to come home to him.
Building a Public Record
The Truth Commission was formally launched in May by Church leaders, human rights advocates, lawyers, and academics as an initiative independent of government. Its work seeks to build a credible public record of killings associated with the anti-drug campaign while providing trauma-informed spaces where victims, witnesses, survivors, and their families can tell their stories and be heard.
The Commission is guided by Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, Bishop of Kalookan, and chaired by Judge Raul Pangalangan, a former judge of the International Criminal Court. Dr. Fortun serves as one of its commissioners.
The Commission has so far documented more than 7,500 incidents, reached five cities, and worked with eight partner and support organizations.
Its Public Truth-Telling Sessions are intended to bring together personal testimony, documentary evidence, forensic findings, and other forms of documentation that can contribute to a fuller public understanding of what happened during the anti-drug campaign and help advance accountability and institutional reform.
Remembering Raymart Beyond His Death
The August 14 session will seek to establish not only how Raymart died, but also who he was. He was an 18-year-old young man living with a disability, a son and an older brother who had experienced hardship with his family and still had plans for his future. Shortly before his death, he was preparing to begin working with his uncle and had spoken to his mother about continuing his education.
For the Siapo family, the session is an opportunity to ensure that Raymart is remembered not simply as another number among thousands of reported killings, but as a young person whose life, hopes, relationships, and future were abruptly taken away.
For the Truth Commission, the August 14 session marks the beginning of a broader process of listening to victims and families, establishing and preserving a public record, and contributing to the continuing search for truth, remembrance, justice, accountability, institutional reform, and healing.
Each testimony will add another voice to a history that families say has too often remained unheard.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Tessam Castillo media@truthcommission.ph
Jhecy Rebete info@truthcommission.ph
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