No to extrajudicial killings

At our regular village Sunday mass last week, I was listening intently to the parish priest’s homily as he discussed the importance of being vigilant about what was happening in the Philippines. He kept talking about the importance of the Fifth Commandant ‘Thou shall not kill’ and how it is relevant to what is happening on a large scale these past few months. I think he was trying to remind us not to turn a blind eye to the rising numbers of deaths in just the past two months.

Obviously, many knew that a rise in death toll might come to pass. Those who voted for President Rodrigo Duterte counted on him and his hard stance against crime and drugs to “clean the streets,” as it were, of drug pushers, syndicates, and would-be criminals. And just two months into office he appears to have kept his word. As they say, “change has come indeed.” However, we also have to stop and ask ourselves at what cost?

I have supported President Duterte’s stand against criminals. I understand where he is coming from and we most definitely have to start making sure Filipinos feel safe in the Philippines again. After all, for too long those who break the law would go by unpunished and as a result more and more criminals are emboldened to do as they please because they don’t fear the repercussions. There are many aspects of the president’s solution to violence and crime that I can understand and even support. Placing curfews on teenagers, alcohol consumption, and more are smart preventive measures.

However, having said all that, I don’t believe that “shoot to kill” is the best way to achieve the goal of a safer country. When did fighting fire with fire ever actually work in the long run? There has to be a better middle ground. If the president’s mandate of shoot to kill is followed what we would end up with are even more vigilantes walking the streets with a convoluted sense of ‘wild wild west’ justice. This is not the way to make things safe again. In fact, things might get even more dangerous.

I understand wanting to clean the streets for our families, but turning a blind eye to what is happening right now just because we it feel it doesn’t apply to us is wrong. It might seem that way now, but in the end it will come back to haunt us. What happens when one day it’s someone we love being wrongly accused and gunned out without a proper trial? Or worse, what if we, or someone we love, become collateral damage in a random shoot-out? It’s not far-fetched considering the way people are reacting to the president’s mandate.

Just last week, a Party-list congressman in the House called on law enforcers to investigate the alarming growing rate of extra-judicial killings and prosecute the killers in the government’s ongoing campaign against illegal drugs. After all, killing is just as punishable an offense as drug use right? One will not stomp out the other. The representative reiterates that the government can’t just stand idly by while unidentified gunman posing as police roam the streets and kill people with impunity. If we let that go, it will only be a matter of time before it gets completely out of hand.

In fact, the “bloody war on drugs” in the country has already made headlines all over the world on news sites like Time, The New York Times, Daily Mail, and so many more. In the short span of time that the Duterte administration has proclaimed their war on drugs, over 500 people have been killed. These “pushers” or “addicts” were executed in the name of the war on drugs but were never given due process or any chance to prove their innocence. In many instances a simple cardboard sign was placed by the victim with the world “Pusher” written on it.

Is this what our country has come to? Killing someone and making a claim of their guilt on cardboard is enough to make it okay? We can’t allow this to become the norm. What’s to stop someone from killing an enemy that may or may not have had anything to do with drugs and just claiming they are a pusher or an addict after the fact? At that point they won’t be able to defend themselves and it will be too late.

I’m sure we all remember the case of pedicab driver Michael Siaron who was shot while looking for a final fare for the evening on the streets of Manila. After pausing to grab an apple, Siaron was targeted by gunmen on motorcycles who pumped him full of bullets before riding off. His wife, who heard the shots, ran to the scene and pushed past the police to cradle her husband’s lifeless body on the asphalt. The photo has been circulating traditional and social media and has since become “a modern day Pietà of the Manila slums” as eloquently put by The New York Times.

These people, many of whom are the ones who put Duterte in power because they were desperate for change, don’t always have a voice. We need to help be their voice. We all deserve justice. I believe that those who are guilty should be punished, however, due process has to be observed. We need to live in a world governed by law. In fact, over the weekend, Vice President Leni Robredo also made it clear which side of the fence she is on when it comes to summary executions. She is grateful that the President has made several statements saying the rule of law and due process would be honored but she insists that the killings have to stop and enjoins both the public and the media to help drive this message home.

We all want to live in a safe society. We want to be able to raise our children in a safer world. I commend the president on his mission to stamp our crime, drugs and violence in the Philippines. On that note, we are all aligned in wanting a better country. However, there has to be a way to do this while letting due process and the rule of law prevail. I remember the Latin legal phrase – “Fiat iustitia ruat cælum,” which translates into “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.” Fair justice should always prevail, especially when lives are at stake.