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\"Customers — Customers dine at the Silingan Coffee Shop in Quezon City on March 24, 2023. The Silingan Coffee Shop at the Cubao Expo, which opened in 2021, is staffed primarily by widows, mothers and sisters of those who were killed during the Duterte administration’s war on drugs. *Basilio H. Sepe, ABS-CBN News*

MANILA - With its sepia light fixtures, the ambience at Silingan Coffee Shop in Quezon City evokes a sort of storied past, like a moment captured in an old photograph.

But this writing on the staircase tells of the present: “It’s not even really a war on drugs. It’s an illegal war on the poor.”

Sharon Tayactac, 38, the shop’s barista, reads these statements on a daily basis. For her, it’s a constant reminder of her own story, a bitter reality check in between servings of their sweet hazelnut lattes.

Tayactac’s younger brother, Christian, a security patrolman volunteer in their barangay (village) in Payatas, Quezon City, was killed in October 2016, during a raid at the height of President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war. He was with his two friends who were known to be drug users on the night he was murdered, she said.

When they heard of the police’s anti-illegal drug operation in their area, Christian's two friends ran to hide from the authorities. Christian didn’t, as he knew he was clean and that being a village patrolman will give him some immunity from the drug war.

But it didn’t. He was gunned down for allegedly being a drug user. His autopsy showed though that he was negative for drug use.

The Silingan Coffee Shop at the Cubao Expo opened in August 2021. It employs widows, mothers and sisters of those who were killed in the drug war. The store has a satellite location — an old Chevrolet SUV-turned-mobile kitchen — in Paranaque City.

Currently, it has 22 staff, working on different shifts.

GRIEVING SISTER AND MOTHER

To this day, Tayactac maintains that her then 20-year-old brother was neither a drug user nor a pusher, and has in fact volunteered as a barangay tanod.

"Hindi siya dapat pinatay," she said, adding that he did not deserve to be killed like “an animal”.

(He should not have been killed.)

In the past, Tayactac refused to have conversations regarding her brother’s death due to fear of the government and animosity from other people.

“Siyempre, andoon pa din yung takot. Hindi mo naman maiiwasan yun, 'di ba? Siyempre, [sabihin] ng gobyerno, 'Aba, ano na ‘tong mga ganyan?',” she said. “Meron namang ibang tao na…, mararamdaman mo naman yun eh. Kasi 'pag minsan, dumadaan, diyan pa talaga sa gitna, alam mo yung pinag tsi-tsismisan nila kayo. Pero hindi naman nila alam yung totoong kwento nito eh. Hindi naman natin lahat kailangan i-explain.”

(Of course, there is still fear. It’s inevitable, right? The government could say something about it. There are also other people who would think differently. You can sense that. Sometimes they will come in here and talk about us. But they do not know the true story. We also do not need to explain everything.)

It is only recently that she started opening up about the pain of losing her brother to the drug war. And she thanks the coffee shop for giving her a safe space to share her story.

“Sa totoo lang, simula nung pumasok ako ng Silingan, nito lang ako nagpa-interview regarding sa kapatid ko. Kumbaga, iwas ako. Pero dito, parang katulad ng mga kasama ko, siyempre pare-parehas kami ng pinagdaanan, iba-iba nga lang kami ng kwento, nao-open ko na din sa kanila,” Tayactac said.

(Honestly, it was just recently, when I started working at Silingan, that I agreed to be interviewed about my brother. I avoided it before. But I started opening up with my colleagues here since we experienced the same tragedy, although different personal stories.)

Tayactac's story isn’t singular. The death of a loved one in the former president's drug war is a shared experience for a number of Filipinos, including Nanette Castillo, a former housewife who now works at Silingan’s mobile kitchen at the Baclaran Redemptorist Church in Paranaque.

Castillo said she was fully devoted to managing a household for her husband and two children. But one night in October 2017, she received a call that changed everything – her only son Aldrin was killed in Tondo, Manila.

Aldrin was 32 years old. He was shot five times by two men riding a motorcycle on Oct. 2, 2017. The autopsy report revealed that two types of guns were used by the suspects — caliber .40 and .45.

Castillo hurried to the crime scene after her sister-in-law told her what happened to her son. The people were already crowding the scene. Lights coming from the police vehicles gleam the dark alley in Pritil, Tondo.

Beyond the crowd, she saw his son right away, on the ground, lifeless.

\"Nanette — Nanette Castillo takes care of the Silingan Coffee mobile kitchen at the Baclaran Redemptorist Church in Paranaque on March 29, 2023. Castillo’s only son was shot five times by two men riding a motorcycle on Oct. 2, 2017. *Basilio H. Sepe, ABS-CBN News*

As she stormed the crowd to hold Aldrin's body, the police repelled her to get out of the crime scene. She did not listen. Why would she? “I am his mother! He is my son!” she exclaimed. Castillo cradled her son.

Since then, she has been keeping score of the number of days since she lost Aldrin. For her, it is the same number of days that justice has yet to be served.

“Siya yung mundo ko rin nun, bukod sa isa ko pang anak. Talagang sa kaniya lang umiikot yung mundo ko. So nung nawala siya, hindi ko kasi pinangarap na ganun ang maging katapusan niya eh. Bakit ganun ka bayolente? Wala sa hinagap ko,” Castillo said.

(He was my world at that time aside from my daughter. My world revolves around them. When Aldrin was murdered, I did not dream that his life will end that way. I have no idea why it had to be that violent.)

While at work in the mobile kitchen, Nanette often shows others a laminated photo of her son with a text saying “Justice for Aldrin”. It’s a photo she brings with her everywhere. She also has a larger version — a tarpaulin — which she brings during street protests and rallies.

Her clamor for justice brought her to the United Nations Human Rights Council office in Geneva, Switzerland in September 2019 where she was asked to recount her story as the panel looked into the drug war and extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.

According to data collated by the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group, 7,038 people have died from May 10, 2016 until June 30, 2022, majority of whom were during anti-illegal drugs operations conducted by law enforcement agencies. The others were either killed by unidentified assailants or were just found in public places.

Some rights groups claim however that the death toll could be much higher.

SENSE OF COMMUNITY

\"A — A family chats with Ciriaco “Brother Jun” Santiago (right) on January 25, 2017 as he visits the wake of one of the many families his church is helping to cope with the repercussions of Duterte's war on drugs. *Fernando G. Sepe Jr., ABS-CBN News/file*

Silingan’s owner, Brother Jun Santiago, has first-hand experience of the horrors of the drug war.

He is an active member of the Baclaran church community and takes photos of their various social missions.

One of such missions happened in December 2016, when he joined a group of photojournalists and saw the killings in the streets.

“I ventured again dun sa coffee shop kasi may kilala naman akong barista na ang kapatid niya ay napatay. Then sabi ko, i-train natin itong mga nanay para hindi na hingi nang hingi ng tulong sa akin at para mas stable," Santiago shared.

(I ventured again in a coffee shop business because I knew a barista whose sibling was killed [in the drug war]. I thought of training the other mothers so that they don’t have to always ask for financial help from me, and it will more stable.)

“Silingan” is a Visayan term for “neighborhood”. It is this sense of a community that Santiago wants to foster.

“Na-point out namin na ang nawala sa kanila during the time na pinatay ang kanilang mga mahal sa buhay is their neighbor. Takot makipaglamay, natatakot tumulong, or yung neighbor mo nga kinukutya sila, “Ay mabuti na nga namatay na yan, perwisyo sa atin yan!”, Santiago said.

(We pointed out that the families lost the sense of “neighborhood” when their loved ones were murdered. Their neighbors were afraid to visit the wakes, feared helping them, or would bully the victims, saying 'They deserved to have been killed since they are a burden to us!')

“So nawala yung empathy. Wala na yung pakikiisa dun sa mga nawalan. Noong nawalan na sila ng neighbors, sabi naman, 'Why not ibalik natin ang neighborhood dito sa Cubao Expo?'"

(There's no more empathy. Nobody was in communion with the those who lost a loved one. So when their neighbors distanced from them, we thought, 'Why not revive this sense of neighborhood here in the Cubao Expo?')

The Silingan Coffee Shop is one of the stores located in the eclectic Cubao Expo in Quezon City. It opened in 2021 and is staffed primarily by widows, mothers and sisters of those who were killed during the Duterte administration’s war on drugs. Basilio H. Sepe, ABS-CBN News

Each step on the staircase at the Silingan Coffee shop displays statements pertaining to the war on drugs during the time of President Rodrigo Duterte, from 2016 to 2022. Basilio H. Sepe, ABS-CBN News

A student looks at posters and other reading materials on display inside the Silingan Coffee Shop in Quezon City on March 24, 2023. The restaurant is a repository of materials to remind the public of what went on during the drug war. Basilio H. Sepe, ABS-CBN News

Despite the “theme,” customers still patronize the Silingan Coffee Shop in Quezon City, which gives hope to relatives of drug war victims as it shows people are open to the backstories behind the controversial flagship campaign of former President Rodrigo Duterte. Basilio H. Sepe, ABS-CBN News

Sharon Tayactac’s work at the Silingan Coffee Shop in Quezon City, doubles as source of income and a constant reminder of her brother’s memory. Basilio H. Sepe, ABS-CBN News

Nanette Castillo wears a mask with the coffee shop’s campaign for justice as she serves customers at the Silingan Coffee mobile kitchen inside the Baclaran Redemptorist Church in Paranaque on March 29, 2023. Basilio H. Sepe, ABS-CBN News

The Baclaran Church’s steady stream of parishioners, especially on Wednesdays, provides opportunity for Nanette Castillo and the staff of the Silingan Coffee mobile kitchen to not only serve food but orient customers who may ask about the war on drugs. Basilio H. Sepe, ABS-CBN News

During the early months of the operation of Silingan, Tayactac and her co-baristas stared at empty chairs and tables. They even spent more time dusting the artwork on the walls instead of making coffee.

“Nagsa-suffer ako nung umpisa. 'Three months or four months lang ito. Papaano ba ito?' Lahat ng raket ko, dito lang napupunta. Abono, abono," Santiago recalled with a laugh.

(I suffered financially at the start. I thought this will only last for 3 to 4 months. What am I going to do? All my earnings from my side jobs just went here, and I kept shelling out for the losses.)

Because the menu is limited to coffee, the baristas sell their own homemade pastries like cupcakes, cookies, breads, and even processed meats to earn a little extra.

“Ang maliit na business should be staff-centered. Tulungan ka ng staff kasi sila ang nagpapatakbo eh. So kung makakatulong sa kanila ito, ibig sabihin successful ang business,” Santiago said.

(Small businesses should be staff-centered. The staff will help you because they will be the one to run the ground operations. So if this will help them, that means the business is successful.)

Now, the cafe has gotten more popular. And what used to be just empty chairs is now a haven of stories about the lives of the baristas.

Seeing Silingan as a more sustainable way of helping the families of drug war victims, Santiago hopes it will have more pop-up stores in the future.

For Tayactac, Silingan has evolved from being just a place of work into a support system for the relatives of victims of the drug war.

She admits she doesn’t expect justice for her brother’s death. And there are times she still fears speaking up.

“Hindi mo maiiwasan yun eh, andoon yung saya, pero minsan may takot,” she said. But to finally be able to share her story without the fear of being judged is cathartic.

(It’s unavoidable, there’s relief but sometimes there’s also fear.)

“Mas marami palang nakaka-appreciate kaysa sa hindi nakaka-appreciate. Maraming nagpupunta dito na hindi namin kilala. Magugulat kami, may gustong malaman yung kwento namin,” Tayactac said.

(I realized that there are more people who can appreciate than those who don’t. A lot of them who visit here are strangers. We were surprised that they would like to listen to our stories.)

FIGHT FOR JUSTICE

Castillo said she is done feeling pity over the death of her son. Now more than ever is the time to fight for justice, no matter how long it will take for them to achieve it, as she hopes that the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into the drug war would flourish.

She raises her voice as the loud sound from a taking-off plane outdoes hers: “Meron, malaki ang laban namin kung mapapatunayan talaga. Sana nakita na ng mga Pilipino na wala namang saysay yung ginawang pagpatay. Ang daming pinatay, libo-libo.”

(We have a big fighting chance to prove our case. I hope the Filipinas have already realized that the killings were senseless. Thousands were killed.)

“Loobin ng Diyos na maparusahan sila at mapatunayan ng ICC na may kasalanan sila, makulong sila. Hindi doon natatapos ang laban ko,” Castillo said. “Kahit ano pang gawin namin, hindi na maibabalik ang buhay ng anak ko. Matutuwa ako kung makukulong sila. Pero kalahati lang yun kasi patay pa rin ang anak ko. Hindi na nila mabubuhay si Aldrin."

(It will be God's will that they will get punished, that the ICC will prove their guilt, and that they will jailed. But my fight doesn't end there. Whatever we do, my son will not live again. I’ll be happy if they will be imprisoned. But it will just be partial because my son is still dead. It won’t bring Aldrin back to life.)

For Castillo, her tears every time she tells her story are no longer of sorrow. She knows that Aldrin is also helping her carry though the pain of losing him so he can be at peace as well.

Tayactac and Castillo are each a developing portrait of healing, thanks in part to the community called Silingan.

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Silingan cafe serves sense of community among families of drug war victims

Nico Bagsic,

ABS-CBN News

Published Apr 08, 2023 07:16 AM PHT

|

Updated Apr 09, 2023 12:19 AM PHT

Read More:

drug war

Silingan Coffee Shop

Duterte

tokhang

war on drugs

Rodrigo Duterte

Silingan

coffee shop

cafe

Bro. Jun Santiago

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