Valencia, Lady Beatriz F.

Essay #1

XII- Optimism Creative Non-fiction

I have recently watched a video about a police officer leaving his post to go out of his
way to buy a man waiting in line to buy groceries a pair of face mask, and I immediately thought
this man takes pride in his job and his duty in keeping his fellowmen safe. Different from the
news I read about a few weeks back about a shooting incident concerning a former soldier and
at least five policemen. In this case, one policeman shot a mentally challenged ex-military man
twice, with the belief that the victim was armed and is disregarding the enhanced community
quarantine sanctioned by the government.

After lots of thoughts I finally narrowed it down into one particular similarity, that both scenarios
highlighted the word “safety” in their duties. Of course the latter is imperative especially at times
like this, but the cases differ when one preferred to use violence. In their line of work, yes, an
order is an order. The policeman who shot the victim was probably just doing what he was told
to do. The investigation says that it was a judgement call from the policeman who fired the shot,
but PNP operational procedure prohibits the use of excessive force, but holds that "in the lawful
performance of duty, a police officer may use necessary force to accomplish his mandated. The
police manual also directs police officers to "first issue a verbal warning before he could use
force against an offender" but also says that failure to give a verbal warning is excusable "where
threat to life or property is already imminent" and police officers have no choice but to use
force. Tasks of enforcing the law and maintaining peace and order." They really outdid the motto
peace and order, now both are disrupted in the outcome. But in the defense of the policemen
involved it really is a challenge to calm an “armed’ man. Standard operating procedures should
be performed and a lot have to be taken into consideration. It is true that the victim is mentally
challenged and it is inevitable that if the victim was not shot during the scenario further
complications may arise since reports show that he was in fact armed.

I have a lot to say about those two different occasions concerning the police force during this
enhanced community quarantine but one thing I know for certain is that, from both happenings I
was able to reflect and know so much about how my future profession would become. I aspire
to become a lawyer, and the career includes a lot of consideration and thinking whether an act
is justified in the based on our present constitution or not. If justice can be swayed and bended
just as how those in the higher-ups would.
Watching and reading news updates have been part of my routine now as a quarantined
student. Aside from accomplishing task given to us online, knowing all the more about news
updates surely gives a lot to my critical, analytical and comprehensive take about each of them.
With all of these being said and done, I never forget about my privilege and how fortunate I am
into keeping myself and my family safe in this crisis. Not all families and individuals can feel the
same way as I am. Last night as I was observing our neighborhood from my window, at 8
o’clock all doors were locked and no one wanders the streets anymore, different from when it
was so busy and traffic and jeepney honking was our problem. As we live near Pasay General
Hospital, I saw a woman eating a sandwich as she passed by our apartment, I have concluded
that she was a nurse based on what she was wearing. I felt nothing but gratitude and respect
towards that lady. Imagine working your usual job with the threat of your own life at stake. As I
said, tremendous amount of respect and gratitude is what I have for her. All the more, I will use
this mindset and take it with me in my journey to success and plant a seed of gratefulness in
hope that it will blossom into something that I may use to give back into everything and
everyone that I am now grateful for.