EDITORIAL - Casualties of a brutal war

The gunmen came knocking before daybreak on Sunday, rousing Domingo Manosca from sleep at his home on Mahogany street in Pasay City. As he stood up, a man peered into the window. Guns were aimed at him and fired. A spray of bullets went through Manosca and hit his five-year-old son Francisco. Manosca, who had surrendered under Oplan Tokhang, died together with the boy.

The case illustrates the great potential for abuse when a nation gets the impression that it’s OK to take a life in the name of the war on drugs. Manosca’s son is not the first child to be killed in this brutal war. And there will likely be more, along with other innocents caught in the crossfire, as anti-narcotics police and vigilantes alike continue their killing spree.

Records of the Philippine National Police show that on average, 30 people have been killed daily all over the country since President Duterte assumed power. Human rights groups count about 5,600 deaths related to the drug war, but the PNP reports 2,102 drug suspects killed by police after allegedly putting up a fight. Another 2,886 killings are classified as DUI or death under investigation.

From July 1 to Dec. 14, the PNP arrested 40,932 suspected drug pushers and users under Oplan Double Barrel, which targets both street pushers and major drug traffickers, while 908,244 surrendered after being visited at home by police under Oplan Tokhang. Like Manosca, a number of those killed had surrendered under Tokhang.

In previous years, such a grievous death toll would have merited the declaration of a special day for national mourning. There are worse offenders in this country. Why should penny-ante street pushers deserve the new version of the death penalty while plunderers in government, who bring harm to the citizenry and national development, continue to live, with some even winning elective office? Why is there an ongoing mass extermination of one particular group of suspects?

With killers roaming freely, impunity is mounting and the blood lust can quickly spread beyond the war on illegal drugs. Already there are reports of personal scores being settled in the guise of being part of the drug war. As appalling as the mass deaths is the seeming failure or lack of interest to investigate each drug-linked killing, whether perpetrated by police or by vigilantes. The most tragic casualties are the innocents, like the son of Domingo Manosca.