Rage over the killing of Kian?
It has been over a week since Kian delos Santos was killed in a police drug bust in Caloocan City. The stories have not died down even as Kian was buried in August 26 and DU30 and Malacañang have acknowledged the mistake and even promised to prosecute the erring policemen and mete out the proper penalties. The uncalled-for statements by the police that Kian and his family were drug suspects added fire to the controversy instead of controlling the damage to the government. The directed news in the social media became more damaging to the police version of the story, especially when in the Senate investigation the police admitted that their "intel" on Kian's link to drugs was from social media.
Public reaction and opinion to this Kian killing was lopsided against the government. The main media of newspapers, radio, and television were 90 percent against the police version. The social media, even including the directed news and posts were still 70 percent against the police. Even the reporters and opinion writers that were neutral or are usually supportive of DU30 and his government were writing against the police and the war on drugs. Some writers were even speculating if this incident will be the "tipping point" in the DU30 war on drugs. Aside from the cause-oriented groups, the Catholic Church, individual priests, and religious groups condemned the killing. Students and schools demonstrated against the killings. Some senators and congressmen including allies of the president also weighed in against the killing. The UNICEF, the DepEd, the CHR, the Public Attorney's Office, and even the US ambassador issued condemning statements. Malacañang got the signals right that it distanced itself from the police version of the story, and issued a series of conciliatory statements including from the president. This is one of those times that the government was unnerved, judging from the series of damage control and conciliatory initiatives.
Was or is there a public outrage over the Kian killing and how long will it last? The Senate investigation is continuing and the cases against the policemen have been filed. The developments in the hearing and the progress of the prosecution of the case will be crucial to the public perception of the police and the government. As of now, the public perception is that of "rage", which is a strong feeling of anger but has not reach the level of an "outrage", which is a stronger feeling of anger, disgust, and indignation. Filipinos are a slow-burning sort of people as was demonstrated in its suffering for 16 years under the Marcos martial law before erupting into a People Power revolution. By their reaction to this incident, the present government is put on notice on the ominous significance of Kian's killing. Most of the Filipinos want the government to succeed because it is good for the country and for the people. And there are more problems beyond the war on drugs, like the ISIS terrorists, the NPAs, the Manila traffic, the poverty level, the government corruption, and the Chinese incursion. It puzzles me, though, why this government allows and tolerates ill-conceived or ill-advised statements and actions of overeager and incapable functionaries to ruin its reputation.
In the Vietnam and in the Middle East wars, the combatant armies which included the U.S., Russia, and the armies of the countries in the war, there is a theory that civilian casualties should be avoided, since for every civilian death you create 50 more enemies in the locality. And this is just in the locality without any media exposure. In the war on drugs with the media exposure, the ratio would be 1,000 to 1. So, if 2,000 civilians have been killed, the government would have alienated 2,000,000 people by this time.
- Latest
