The Killing Spree
On President Rodrigo Duterte’s War on Drugs
During the campaign period, then Davao City mayor and presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte promised the eradication of crime and drugs in the country within three to six months if elected to the presidency. Because of the growing public concern over the seemingly out of control law and order situation in their communities, this promise struck a chord among many Filipinos.
This resulted in a huge mandate on Election Day, with more than 16 million Filipinos placing their trust in him. Although these votes were still short of a majority, one could not discount the overwhelming approbation the public has given to the former mayor of Davao City and his pronouncements.
In waging war against illegal drugs, the president has indicated that he will not hesitate to kill or to resort to extrajudicial means. He has ordered the police and other government agencies to double or even triple their efforts to exterminate this menace during his first State of the Nation Address last month.
To achieve this, money was proffered to police and military personnel as well as civilians who would help in killing the individuals involved. He also promised to exponentially increase the salaries of the uniformed personnel. More importantly, together with the Philippine National Police chief, the Chief Executive has pledged full legal support to those who will be sued in the performance of their “duties.”
Suddenly, the police have become reinvigorated, conducting operations against drug “personalities” even before Duterte formally assumed the presidency. One central plank of this campaign is “Oplan Tokhang” (Toktok-Hangyo or “Knock and Plead”) in which policemen together with village officials go to the houses of suspected drug users and pushers to plead with them to stop their activities or face their consequences. What these consequences are is as good as anyone’s guess. However, for hundreds of our countrymen suspected to be involved in drug trade, they might already know the answer however late it might be.
As of this writing, 525 have already perished in police operations while 249 were slain by still unidentified assailants. In those instances in which the suspects were killed, the police seemed to have done a particularly spectacular job of memorizing one line to explain what transpired: They were killed because the suspects tried to fight back or tried to wrestle their service firearms from them.
In fact, all it takes is just one word: “Nanlaban.”
Although some have expressed concern and alarm over the surge in the number of killings over the past few weeks, there has been no palpable public outcry on what is happening. There is a big segment of the public that supports the president’s intensified drive to rid our society of this serious problem. They believe this is so grave that ruthless means are justified or even desired. Also part of this perspective is a deep distrust in the political institutions and the judiciary. Government instrumentalities and the courts are not to be trusted in dispensing justice because they have already been corrupted.
These events are turning out to be a dangerous turn for our democracy, but one will be both stupid and foolhardy to dismiss these sentiments that fuel them outright.
Compounding the public’s resentment is the fact that authorities seemed to have taken a leisurely pace in addressing these concerns, resulting in a perception that the government was out of touch with its people or simply did not care. Can you really blame the Filipino who has to live with the pathetic excuse for a public transport system every day— while he clings to his measly pay from a job he’s about to lose in five months’ time?
Nevertheless, these do not justify the apparent shortcuts we are taking these days.
The President said the biggest threat facing our democracy today was the people’s lack of trust and confidence in the government and that he wanted to save the Republic from the breakdown of law and order. He has expressed willingness to do whatever is necessary to achieve this goal. However, killing people, regardless whether they are guilty or not, will do exactly the opposite of this.
Killing people without due process is the start of the breakdown of our society’s law and order regardless of how fragile it is in the eyes of some. If we allow this to continue, what will prevent someone from taking the law in his own hands and killing a person in the name of the crusade against drugs and criminality?
If the government is really bent on restoring the trust and confidence of the people in its agencies, it should start by strengthening them and their processes and procedures. If the President really wants to restore order, he should show this by demonstrating that criminals will be caught, tried in courts, and incarcerated.
Allowing people to be killed in the middle of the night by masked individuals does not evoke confidence; it evokes fear.
Allowing the police to kill a suspect and reason later on that he tried to fight back does not stir confidence in them; it stirs suspicions.
The biggest deterrent to crimes and breakdown of order is not the certitude of death for criminals. It is the certitude of justice and punishment. This is the hallmark of a society’s adherence to the principle of justice and liberal values. Sadly, it seems that many of us are willing to turn a blind eye to these breaches of human rights for a fleeting sense of security.
One will concede that it is still too early in the presidency of Duterte to pass judgment on him. However, it’s never too early to call the attention of those in power if lives are being taken at such a casual way as though we were talking of animal lives. There must be a way to reconcile these seemingly contradictory aims: the eradication of crimes on one end and the preservation of fundamental human rights on the other.
As a nation, we have to collectively reflect on this now and decisively take the best course of action without compromising on our collective values. We haven’t a lot of time. We don’t want to look back on this period a decade or a century hence with shame because we were too timid to act or even speak up.
