Suspects in Pateros EJKs still unidentified – Mayor

MANILA, Philippines -  Members of the “Bonnet Gang,” reportedly behind the alleged extrajudicial killings in Pateros, have yet to be identified, Mayor Miguel Ponce III said yesterday.

“Until now there is none… but the order for our police to find out and capture the members of this gang who execute murders of our residents still stands,” Ponce told The STAR on the sidelines of the Metro Manila Sports Fest at the San Andres sports Complex in Manila.

He said due to the local police’s failure to arrest the members of the gang, named after the bonnet or ski mask they wear, “some of our residents cannot help but make various conclusions.”

Ponce said the local police would report that the killings are linked to the illegal drug trade.

At least 64 persons with drug links were killed in Pateros from July 2016, when the government launched its drug war, until February this year. 

Ponce previously publicly denounced the drug-related killings, even putting up tarpaulins last March saying that “the people of Pateros support President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs, but strongly denounce and condemn the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) being perpetrated by the Bonnet Gang in the different barangays in our town.”

He appealed to Southern Police District director Senior Superintendent Tomas Apolinario and Pateros police chief Superintendent Joel Villanueva to stop the killings and bring the Bonnet Gang to justice.