Death squad disrupters: Filipina patrols help keep drug killings at bay

By Martin Petty and Eloisa Lopez
MANILA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Late each night, a dozen women
chat and share a meal before hitting the narrow streets of a
Manila suburb where a death squad once roamed.
They are the "women's patrol", a group of 18 mothers and
grandmothers whose nightly walks through the dimly lit alleys of
Pateros have been helping to deter shadowy gunmen behind murders
of residents linked to illegal drugs.
Not long after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared
a war on drugs in 2016 and promised thousands would die, Pateros
was being terrorised by attackers in hoods and ski masks, known
locally as the "bonnet gang". (https://reut.rs/2H118PK)
With the town of 63,000 paralysed by fear, the women decided
to arm themselves with flashlights and patrol their community,
keeping up a nightly presence to disrupt the bonnet gang.
"When we started patrols, the enthusiasm came back to our
community and the fear disappeared. Back then, people were
afraid to go out," said Jenny Helo, 39, who leads the women
through the labyrinth of shops, shacks and informal dwellings.
"But when they saw how effective we are, because of how we
really go around the community, people regained confidence."
The killers have not been caught.
In the deadliest periods of the crackdown, there were as
many as four murders linked to drugs each day in the
Philippines, many by gunmen riding pillion on motorcycles.
The total number of drug-related killings since Duterte
unleashed his drugs war is unknown.
Police say they killed 5,400 suspects in self-defence during
their anti-drugs operations, but deny allegations by activists
that elements of the force are involved in the mystery killings
that plagued Pateros and other parts of Manila.
In a written response to Reuters, Duterte's spokesman
Salvador Panelo called those "inevitable results" when a
government was serious about suppressing illegal drugs.
He attributed the deaths to botched drug deals, turf wars
between drug syndicates, or informants being silenced.
Pateros is now safer and the gunmen have gone, say those who
live there. The women never found out who the bonnet gang were,
Helo said, but believe they thwarted them.
"We disrupted them in what they do," she said. "They know we
are here to fight what they're doing."
Pateros police chief Colonel Simnar Gran praised the
patrollers and said local police had worked closely with them
and the mayor to tighten the town's security.
A few officers accompany the women each night, enforcing
curfews and smoking bans, and warning people against drugs.
"This can be replicated by other communities," Gran said.
"They're doing this voluntarily without compensation. They're
just civic-minded people."

(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)