Gilbert P. Grande Jr.

The Kian Delos Santos case

The killing of the 17-year old high school student is probably the most controversial right now
that is related to Duterte’s war on drugs campaign. This young boy was killed in a police operation in
Barangay 160, Caloocan City on August 16, 2017. There are already a lot of things coming out in the
media right now about this. There are reports that this boy tried to escape and even fired a gun at the
police, wherein he was then shot by the police and sachets of shabu were found at the crime scene. There
are other reports that says that Kian was only dragged by the police and gave him a gun to make it look
like he is going to fight them. To be honest, I am really confused about what to believe right now. But
personally, I am against the killing of people involved in drug cases like Kian, whether he is guilty or not.
Also, the fact that even young people can be involved in these cases, and can be killed any time, this is
even more alarming.

But I have to admit that our country really has a severe problem when it comes to illegal drugs. I support
the government’s campaign against illegal drugs. But what I don’t support is their way of punishing these
people. Killing is not the primary punishment to anyone. We have the due process of law to punish the
law breakers. Sadly, this was not even given to Kian. It’s so frustrating. There are a lot of other people,
even celebrities and politicians, who were found to be guilty of using illegal drugs, but they are given
proper court hearings. They are given the chance to defend themselves. They can even pay for the bail,
even if they are actually guilty. Why, of all people, these chance to defend himself, was not given to a
young boy like Kian Delos Santos. This is not fair really. But then again, we still don’t know the real
reason and actual happening during that time.

The government must properly and carefully handle this issue. They should focus in identifying the truth
about this case so that this will not happen again to other youth and innocent people out there. It’s as if
the police have their quota per month that’s why they will just try to kill innocent people to achieve their
target. This is not right anymore. They are the ones who should take care of the peace and order, but right
now, they are causing fear to people. The war on drugs should never be a war of bloods.