War on drugs in the Philippines

The president of the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has launched a war
on drugs that has resulted in the extrajudicial deaths of thousands of alleged drug
dealers and users across the country. According to John Gershman president
Rodrigo Duterte he sees drug dealing and addiction as a major obstacles to the
Philippines economic and social progress. Even other countries are concern about
this said war on drugs in the Philippines. I believe that the Philippine judicial system
is very slow and perceived as corrupt, enabling President Duterte to act proactively
and address the issue of drugs in a non-constructive way with widespread violations
of human rights. There are even no trials, so there is no evidence that the people
being killed are in fact are drug dealers or drug addicts. In my own opinion it only
shows the weakness of human rights institutions and discourse in the face of a
popular and skilled populist leader. Drug dealers and drug addicts are condemned
group, and condemned groups always have difficulty gaining political support for the
defense of their rights.

Typically, the victims of the war on drugs are poor Filipinos and were killed after
allegedly fighting back during raids, according to the Philippine National Police
(PNP). Although portrayed as self-defense shootings, these acknowledged police
killings are widely believed to be planned and staged, with security cameras and
street lights unplugged, and drugs and guns planted on the victim after the shooting.
 
Exodus 23:7 states that “Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put
an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.” this passage
remind me of the 1987 Constitution. Article III, Sec. 14 (2) states that in all criminal
prosecutions, the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a
reasonable doubt. They say that a person who is accused of violating any of the
provisions of Republic Act 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous
Drugs Act of 2002, enjoys the same presumption of innocence. He may not be held
immediately liable for the crime imputed to him. Rather, a proper investigation will be
made and a trial will ensue before the court if probable cause is found. The accused
may only be made criminally liable therefor if the prosecution has established by
clear and convincing evidence that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
I chose this specific passage because it contravene to the tokhang operation and the
associated killings.
 
“We knock on the consciences of those manufacturing and selling illegal drugs to
stop this activity. We knock on the consciences of those who kill even the helpless,
especially those who cover their faces with masks, to stop wasting human lives,”
Tagle said in a statement read in churches.“The illegal drug problem should not be
reduced to a political or criminal issue. It is a humanitarian concern that affects all of
us,” Tagle said. Words express by cardinal Tagle aren't enough like they say actions
are better than words. Incidents of crossfire are studied, a common pattern that can
be found is that victims were arrested and killed in what is termed as” crossfire,” an
“encounter” or a shootout during crackdowns on illegal firearms or the arrest of
criminals in deserted places, mostly in the early hours. Each time a person is killed
by the police, the government, in effect, casts a vote of no confidence in the judiciary.
Each time a person is denied trail, the legal system of the country is undermined.
Each time the law enforcing agencies are allowed to randomly “kill” a suspect, the
government creates a Frankenstein. Each time police take a person’s life without the
due process of law, the government itself becomes a lawbreaker and reduces itself,
in a sense to the level of those that it is trying to punish. An inevitable consequence
of this process is that the legally constituted greatly loses its moral authority to the
government.
 
In my sentiment a long-term solution to the drug problem is not, believe it or not,
EJKs, “tokhang,” or any newfangled, fancily named police or military operation.
Killing suspected drug dealers and pushers or just plain users produce only dead
people, while the orphans and widow/ers the killings leave behind become prime
candidates for a new generation of addicts. No, the long-term solution to addiction is
behavioral modification through the creation of a “therapeutic community” combined
with clinical interventions to address the user’s dependence on drugs and other
harmful substances and behavior. It may take a while but at least on the long
process, it will help our country.
 
Loving Father,
I pray for the violence and injustice that is happening in the world right now. I ask
for your intervention in this horrible war on drugs in the Philippines. I pray to you Lord
to embolden the Philippine officials dealing with this crisis. May you give them
miraculous insight to deploy their resources in the right places at the right time. May
you protect the police officers in this battle. Protect the innocent as well. Loving
Father, forgive us for fostering an environment that drives the demand for these
drugs. Break the grip of the drug in our nation. Deliver us Lord from this evil from the
plight of violence driven by our demand to find ways, other than dependence on you
to escape the pain of our lives. We pray in this Jesus. AMEN.

References:
https://www.openbible.info/topics/killing
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/924267/church-calls-for-end-to-drug-
killings

Submitted by: Krisyllea Calubo

ABM 12-B