Family and relatives place urns containing the ashes of victims of extrajudicial killings linked to the drug war of former President Rodrigo Duterte at the Dambana ng Paghilom in La Loma Cemetery in Caloocan City on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Eleven victims of extrajudicial killings during the drug war of the Duterte administration were the first ones to be inurned at the Dambana ng Paghilom, a memorial site and columbarium inside the La Loma Catholic Cemetery in Caloocan City.

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The 6 x 8 meter structure has 100 vaults which can accommodate 4-6 urns each.

The plot was donated by the Diocese of Caloocan which is also part of the multi-sectoral Project Paghilom that aims to provide healing as well as seek justice for the victims and their families.

Project Paghilom is led by Fr. Flavie Villanueva who said that the  Dambana ng Paghilom is a reminder that evil existed but evil will not persist if there will be people who will fight for life, truth and peace.

Some 300 families of EJK victims are part of a wholistic approach to healing which not only includes decent interment, but counselling sessions as well for the families left behind.

A columbarium becomes an accidental memorial for drug war victims

The bodies of the victims were exhumed from their initial graves and were subjected to a re-autopsy led by forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun.

One of the widowed wives of EJK victims, Aurora Blas, thanked the organizers of Project Paghilom.

In the initial autopsy report of her husband Thelmo’s death, it was indicated that he died of pneumonia but after the autopsy of Dr. Fortun, it was established that he died of gunshot wounds.

The launch of the Dambana was also attended by ambassadors of the European Union, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.