Commission on Human Rights (CHR) regional director Alberto Sipaco yesterday admitted that Davao City is being singled out by the agency in its probe on extrajudicial killings because of the large number of people being killed here.

Speaking to reporters in yesterday’s I-Speak press conference at the City Hall conference room, Sipaco said while killings are happening all over the country, “Davao has been singled out because of the wholesale number of killings.”

Hundreds of people have been summarily killed in Davao City since 1996, most of them suspected or confirmed criminals.

The killings have been attributed to a vigilante group called Davao Death Squad (DDS), which the CHR has been trying to link with Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

CHR chair Leila de Lima conducted a series of investigations in March and April on the summary killings, but the agency has yet to come out with the results of its investigation.

Recently, the CHR said it has recorded 27 killings in Davao City from August to the first four days of September.

The situation has prompted de Lima to schedule another round of investigations. Last Monday, Sipaco said de Lima will be here on September 25.

Yesterday, Sipaco asked for the help of the citizenry in solving the extrajudicial killings in the city.

“I am calling the citizenry now to do their duty as part of the society,” he said.

For his part, regional state prosecutor Antonio Arellano said the most important part of building a case is the gathering of evidence.

“Even if the crime is committed but if there is no evidence then we have to dismiss the case,” he said.

Arellano said this is why the involvement of the community is important.

“There has to be some disturbance and alarming sense for everyone to be involved in helping solve the killings,” he said.

Arellano said the resurgence of killings in the city “should also serve as a wake-up call for everybody because this may give a wrong impression of the city.”

He said this may also have negative economic effects.