De Lima vs Duterte on summary executions

There is an ocean of difference between the strong and uncompromising stand of Senator Leila Lima on the value of human life and the importance of human rights and due process, on the one hand, and the irreversible policy of President Rodrigo Duterte on the need to address the drug menace – even if it means killing the drug pushers and drug lords – on the other hand. The same opposing views are also the respective stands of the Church and the State, and the extreme positions are not easy to reconcile.

The President has never ordered killing anyone. His marching order is to arrest persons who are committing crimes,but if the subjects should resist and would put the lives of police officers in grave or imminent danger, then they should kill to save their own lives in self-defense. The neophyte lady senator advances the theory that that the spate of killings related to the anti-drug campaign are blatantly and obviously forms of summary executions, that these thus violate the fundamental human rights of the victims.

Our take on this that Senator de Lima's duty is to legislate. She should not arrogate unto herself the function of a judge who makes subjective judgment on the decisions and actions of the chief executive. She is not the Ombudsman, but if she wants to have the president haled to court, then she should ask someone to initiate an impeachment proceedings. Let's see if she has the numbers to have President Duterte impeached. Let's see if the great majority of the Filipino people would support her against a sitting president whose popularity rating is as high as 97 percent.

It is very convenient for Senator de Lima, in the comforts of her air-conditioned and cozy ivory tower in the senate, to pontificate on the fundamental and constitutional rights of the criminals, the rascals in society whose drug-related felonies are wreaking havoc at our nation, shattering marriages and destroying families and family relations. If de Lima is for human rights, then, to be fair to all concerned, she should also be zealously concerned with the human rights of victims who were murdered, raped, robbed and bastardized by such drug monsters.

De Lima should leave the President alone in the performance of his official functions. President Duterte is not like De Lima's boss, former president B S Aquino who has closed his eyes to the mounting drug problems. For six years, Aquino ignored this menace, allowed it, by his inaction and lack of concern, to reach a very alarming proportion. De Lima's pontification and posturing will not do the nation any good. The President is merely doing his job and is fulfilling his promise to the people. Let no senator put a monkey wrench on what the President is doing to save the country and protect our people.

If she cannot help, with due respect, let her keep her peace. The safety and security of the Filipinos is what matters most.