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Philippine new President Rody Duterte and the new Philippine National Police Director Ronald “Bato” Dela Rose are strong advocates of extrajudicial killing (EJK) to cleanse the society of drug menaces like the drug users, pushers and drug lords, and even drug protectors. President Duterte ordered the Police to kill those involved in the illegal drug for they would be protected.
Extrajudicial killing is defined by Wikipedia as the “killing of a person by governmental authorities without the sanction of any judicial proceeding or legal process.” The usual victims are the leaders of political aggrupation, the trade union. The dissident, religious, and social figures are also included. The perpetrators are the police or the armed forces of the country.
EJK seems to be the ultimate resort or solution of the newly elected President Rody Duterte of the Philippines to wipe out the elements involved in illegal drug trade. Since President Duterte assumed office for 12 days, more than 100 were already killed by the police operatives. However, most of the victims were drug users, pushers, and small-time drug lords.
The police are intensifying their campaign for eliminating drug and drug-related business by liquidating those caught in the illegal activities. The PNP is doing their duties to get rid the suspects for the period of 3 to 6 months as what the President promised to the people during his campaign period for the presidency.
The families of the victims of EJK were shouting to the top of their voice that it is “foul”. It is illegal. Some of the surviving families of the victims had already filed the case to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). Former Secretary of Department of Justice (DOJ) De Lima, now a Senator had already shown concern to give justice to the victims. She wanted the killings should be investigated especially the police involved should be summoned and shed light to the rationale of the EJK.
One of the ten commandments in the Bible says that “thou shalt not kill”. This is a commandment for the Israelites to follow as it is given to Moses while he was on the mountaintop of Mount Sinai to commune with God. But he was disgusted upon going down from the said mount when he saw the people were worshipping the graven images made from the molten gold wares. Nevertheless, most of the Christians believe the Ten Commandments. So killing is the most abominable thing to do before the eyes of God so as with the law of the land.
The law of the land or the constitution which is the fundamental law of the land. The life of every citizen is protected and it is contained in the Bill of Rights. It says in the first section of that Bill of Rights, “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law…” This EJK has deprived every suspect of their right for due process of law.
What do you think? Is extrajudicial killing is the only solution to decimate the drug pushers, the drug users? Many have already reacted vehemently opposing EJK. They reason that EJK is not the solution. Killing wouldn’t totally erase the drug menace to society. Controlling or eliminating this illegal drug business is the concerned of everybody. The family is the first important factor for this. It is followed by the community particularly the church and the school. And the last is the government that will regulate or punish the culprit and the guilty.
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Several decades of the so-called war on drugs have taught one thing: that criminalizing drug possession and use serves only to create violence and prevent sick people from getting the help they need. EJK makes the situation even more dire.
The UN is now looking into a harm reduction approach that has produced good results so far in several countries. One of the most important parts of that approach is legalizing drug use. This takes drugs out of the hands of criminals and is far more effective than the kind of violent response we are seeing in the Philippines, the US, or other countries.
I believe this is a far better approach for all of society. It can even result in lower taxes, as well as the funding of schools and health care facilities with profits earned from licensed drug sales. It is more effective at keeping drugs away from children, and can even result in lower addiction rates.
No matter what societal concern we are trying to address, we will never be successful when fear and power over others are the keys to the strategy employed.
Your idea reminds me of a war strategy that usually employed by an intelligent and practical general. I can't remember who has said this about waging a war. It runs this way: "If you can't win them. Join with them." Now, I know what your essence is all about on remedying the abusive usage of harmful drugs. I have already known some countries or states in the United States of American that legalizing prohibited drugs and grasses.
History is filled with numerous incidences on controlling if not eliminating the illegal use of drugs. From imprisonment to several years or even life imprisonment of those guilty. It didn't work. It still growing and growing and the users become intense and great in number. Does it have been solved? No, absolutely no. Now legalizing it, let's wait and see. Does it work effectively? No latest news yet is heard about this. Let's research on this to find it out.
I totally oppose of such technique of our new president. Why do we need to do shoot to kill? We still have concrete laws that needs to imposed. It violates human rights and considered not justifiable. This is too much of killing and it seems Marcos Regime was reborn through him.
In the eyes of God, it is still a sin of killing someone. It is like mercy killing. This is not the solution and needs to act with conscience. What kind of society are we having right now? Fear is obtained but people don't act as humans anymore.
What is the real scenario of the PH as far as illegal drug users and pushers are also concerned. This seems like the situation that dogs kill dogs. It is very obvious that those have been killed are ordinary citizens. They belong to the lowest level of society. They are the poor who eat once a day, or even never. In short, they have to work hard to survive, not for themselves but for his family. Since they didn't have any work or a good source of income, they resort to selling illegal drugs which eventually tempts them to be using them.
Killing them is like a tree which only its leaves or branches have been cut, but its roots still untouched. Thus, it is still lives and continues to produce new leaves and grows branches. In like manner, it is the symptoms that have been treated, and not the source or origin of the disease. Thus, the disease keeps on recurring and recurring after the medicine's effect subsides.
It is my own opinion about this. It doesn't need to kill them. If that's what it takes, then they should terminate all the prisoners connected to illegal drugs. I know what they want. Do you think this is justice? Only God can end the life of a person.
They were killed because they resisted arrest.they should surrender so they can get free rehab. Philippines has almost million drug users and the drug lords are getting richer.What must people do, not to be influenced with illegal drug.They should work to have something to eat.Shabu in the Philippines is made ordinary for one can buy in a sachet wort P20 pesos.They better be dead than to victimized more and the benefits go to bull shit drug lords. May the drug lords rot in hell.
In any way, you are right for they were killed after they resisted arrest. And if they do surrender they may given a free rehab and appropriate medical attention. But do you think it will work? Justice doesn't work well in the Philippine setting. Are you aware of that?
Well, based in your declaration that Philippines has almost million drug users and the drug lords are getting richer, we can infer then that there is a double standard in implementing justice as far as the influential is concerned. That is bad!
What would be the solution? How could this illegal trade be avoided or stopped?? Is there a way? What else then? Livelihod should be a practical solution or legalization of drug for medicinal or therapeutic purpose.
Going back to your question: What must people do, not to be influenced with illegal drug? I have cited some possible and practical solution for that matter. Hope it will be carried. Sop be it!
I think they should just surrender. There is a question that's lingering in my mind for quite some time now and this is it: Are we even sure that those who are killed were killed by the president's personnel? In my opinion, there is a big possibility that their co-drug users/pushers killed them.Why? maybe because they dont want to expose where the drugs came from. Another thing is that maybe those that against the administration is just making a black propaganda.
@anjee you are in your right mind to having such observation. That would be 100% possible. Some of my friends are having that hunch. It is the only possible time in which those suspects would kill their buddies before they are killed by their fellow.
Capital punishment is must to make peace on earth because we all must keep in mind that war and peace demand power, solute power and nothing else. The Philippine president's decision is right because bullet is the treatment of killers and drug users in all countries because they effect the whole society,
The crimes of rape, torture, treason, kidnapping, murder, larceny, and perjury pivot on a moral code that escapes apodictic [indisputably true] proof by expert testimony or otherwise. But communities would plunge into anarchy if they could not act on moral assumptions less certain than that the sun will rise in the east and set in the west. Abolitionists may contend that the death penalty is inherently immoral because governments should never take human life, no matter what the provocation.
But that is an article of faith, not of fact. The death penalty honors human dignity by treating the defendant as a free moral actor able to control his own destiny for good or for ill; it does not treat him as an animal with no moral sense
But is a fact that T]here is no credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than long terms of imprisonment. States that have death penalty laws do not have lower crime rates or murder rates than states without such laws.
And states that have abolished capital punishment show no significant changes in either crime or murder rates. The death penalty has no deterrent effect. Claims that each execution deters a certain number of murders have been thoroughly discredited by social science research.