Column: ‘Vantage Point’ by Karl Briguera
The killing fields
‘Is the collateral damage the price for this new “safer” society?’
Without a doubt, the causality of how rampant extrajudicial killings are in the Philippines is beyond alarming.
The aggressive rhetoric in the war against drug kingpins in the country has swayed the majority of the public to condone the lack of due process in terms of the law. The new President’s strong stance on the use of outright violence has been clear since his phenomenal electoral campaign. This “tough guy” persona has convinced the majority of his supporters that he is the only catalyst for real change in the country. President Duterte, nicknamed “The Punisher” for his inclination to swift street warfare type of justice, has since inspired both law enforcers and vigilantes alike to take up arms in his crusade against crime and illegal drugs.
The killings have never been this alarming. During the weeks leading up to his inauguration as the new president of the Philippines, the so called “all-out war on drugs” was already well on its way. As if on cue, law enforcement agencies simultaneously raided already “well-known” drug lairs, arresting suspected ‘small-time’ drug pushers and executing them on the spot if they see any form of resistance. This only justifies this new brand of shoot-first-ask-questions-later protocol by saying that the said suspects allegedly fought back or resisted arrest. Well-known drug communities were shocked to the core when they saw how grave the situation has become in such a short time. Hundreds die in the first few weeks of the new Duterte administration, and thousands of confused drug users march in droves right into already cramped correctional and rehabilitation facilities just to avoid being murdered in front of their families.
Is the collateral damage the price for this new “safer” society? In the hundreds of recorded drug related murders under the new administration, a portion of that represents men, women and children who were maybe at the wrong place at the wrong time. Time and again we see senseless deaths at the hand of this bloody war on drugs. Photos circulating of how this new brand of justice is being carried out shows us the morbid possibility that not even innocent families nor bystanders are safe when there is a suspected pusher in their community. We see women and children brutalized because they seemed affiliated to the drug trade. Indeed, the Philippines has turned into an ironic modern day Wild West, where justice is in the hands of anyone who holds the bigger gun.
Are we really safer than we were before? When the current state of this country casts a faint shadow to the infamous Marcos regime? When the people start fearing the government more than the criminals they are being protected from? When one man’s voice silences the questions of all the people he has vowed to serve?
Let this so-called war on drugs be a solution for a better society rather than an escalation of passive aggression. Have we yet to learn that condoning violence only leads to more violence? We, as a nation, are better than that, we shouldn’t stand in silence while the alleyways of our history is being painted by the blood of injustice and fear, yet again. I sincerely hope that we won’t let this war on crime and drugs turn into a war on the poor, the marginalized and the unlucky. By Karl B. Briguera
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