FACT CHECK: Post describing Ephraim Escudero as a victim of ‘riding in tandem’ lacks context

Claim: Sheerah Escudero’s brother, Ephraim, was not a victim of extrajudicial killings (EJK) but of riding-in-tandem hitmen. 

Rating: MISSING CONTEXT 

Why we fact-checked this: One post has already received 13,000 reactions, 2,300 comments, and 1,100 shares as of writing. It was posted on February 25, during the confirmation of charges hearing in former president Rodrigo Duterte’s International Criminal Court (ICC) case. 

The post shows a photo of Sheerah Escudero holding a photo of her younger brother Ephraim, who was killed in 2017. It also shows a screenshot of an excerpt from an article, which reads: “Ephraim was picked up by two men on a motorcycle, a common killing tactic now known as ‘riding in tandem.’ CCTV footage confirmed this.”

The text on the photo reads, “Kapatid ni Sheerah Escudero, riding-in-tandem ang ikinamatay at hindi EJK?“

(Sheerah Escudero’s brother, killed by riding-in-tandem hitmen and not an extrajudicial killing victim?)

A similar post also circulated on TikTok. Since it was posted on February 27, the post has already received 70,800 views and 2,135 likes as of writing. A recent comment also reads, “Ayan, malalantad kasinungalingan [mo], ‘day (That’s when your lies will be exposed).”

The facts: While 18-year-old Ephraim was last seen with two men who forcibly hitchhiked on his motorcycle, and was later found dead, his killing by “riding-in-tandem” hitmen has been described as a “common killing tactic” during the Duterte administration’s war on drugs. 

The excerpt of the article mentioned in the Facebook post was taken from a piece published on The Conversation, an independent source of news analysis written by academic experts. The original article, which has since been taken down from the website, described Ephraim as a “father of two who had become ensnared in the increasingly brutal drug war of President Rodrigo Duterte.”

Lawyer Maria Sol Taule, deputy secretary general of human rights group Karapatan, told Rappler in a message that Ephraim was an extrajudicial killing victim. 

“Sheerah’s brother is a victim of EJK during Duterte’s time. He was found two days after he [had] gone missing. His body was found in Pampanga, his head wrapped in packaging tape,” Taule said. 

At the height of Duterte’s drug war, numerous suspected drug personalities were found dead, with the circumstances around the killings bearing similarities to each other: victims who had been abducted, reported missing, and whose bodies were later found bound, with the head wrapped in packaging tape. (READ: In the PH drug war, it’s likely EJK when…)

Ephraim had been widely described by news sources as a victim of extrajudicial killing, including an article in The Guardian in 2017 and by the Union of Catholic Asian News in 2018. 

EJK: Extrajudicial killings, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, are also called summary or arbitrary executions where there is a “deliberate killing of individuals outside of any legal framework.”

The World Organisation Against Torture also described EJK as an act that happens “when someone in an official position deliberately kills a person without any legal process,” and can also be carried out by “militias, death squads or other non-State actors.”

The nongovernment organization Trial International described it as the “deliberate killing of an individual by a State agent (or with their consent).”

It can be recalled that Duterte repeatedly gave law enforcers and even public officials a license to kill during the campaign against illegal drugs, and even during the implementation of lockdown during the pandemic. 

Riding-in-tandem: Riding-in-tandem killings involve two assailants on a motorcycle, where the passenger shoots the victim at close range and both quickly flee the scene. 

According to Amnesty International, more than 4,100 of the drug-related killings in the Philippines in 2017 were carried out by unknown armed individuals on motorcycles. Human Rights Watch also noted that many of the riding-in-tandem killings had been linked to Duterte’s drug war.

“Same pattern ang pagpatay na unidentified riding in tandem ang suspect. Nakakabahala dahil p’wedeng gamitin ang TokHang sa pag-target sa mga lider na nakikipaglaban para sa interes ng mamamayan at i-tolerate na lang ang ganitong sistema at culture of impunity,” said Cora Agovida, spokesperson of Stop the Killings Network, as quoted in Manila Today in 2016, after Joel Lising, a tri-wheel drivers organizer, was killed by two motorcycle-riding men.

(The incident has the same pattern; the suspects are unidentified riding in tandem. It is worrisome that TokHang can be used to target leaders who are fighting for the interest of the people, and this kind of system and culture of impunity is simply tolerated.)

ICC case: Sheerah Escudero was among the relatives of drug war victims who went to The Hague, Netherlands, to personally witness the confirmation of charges hearing of Duterte, who faces charges of crimes against humanity for his war on drugs. 

False posts about her and other relatives of drug war victims have circulated since Duterte’s pre-trial began on February 23. One altered news report falsely claimed that Sheerah’s brother was still alive. Another photo that shows her wearing a luxury bag was fabricated. 

Previous fact checks: Rappler has previously debunked similar false claims about Duterte’s ICC case: 

• FACT CHECK: Photo showing relatives of drug war victims holding designer bags is altered 
• FACT CHECK: ICC judges did not withdraw from Duterte case 
• FACT CHECK: No ICC ruling allowing Duterte to return to PH wearing location tracker 
• FACT CHECK: No proof of Duterte in ‘critical’ condition 
• FACT CHECK: Duterte not released after ICC pre-trial 

– Angelee Kaye Abelinde/Rappler.com 

Angelee Kaye Abelinde is a student journalist based in Naga City and an alumna of Rappler’s Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship 2024. 

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