Justice

(Video courtesy of Rappler, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3I2jD_0Exo)

“…Do justice to every man…"

Not a few people noticed how the president seemed to have placed emphasis on this phrase more than on any other part of his oath last June 30, 2016. Indeed, there seemed to be a deliberate slowing down in the delivery of the phrase starting at 2:07 of the video. He sounded like he was sending a subliminal message to his constituents: a promise, and a stern warning at the same time.

Shortly after he was elected, starting at the tail end of the past administration, bodies started to pile up. At first, people were thinking, this must be the Duterte effect, the guilty getting anxious, making mistakes, and getting killed. Then there were those who theorized that maybe the big bosses in the drug business were ordering these killings to silence those who could incriminate them. Then the killings got bolder and more gruesome. All the while, the president and his men delivered speech after speech staunchly declaring their war against drugs and the perpetrators.

Sure, the president does not overtly condone these killings. But even his most ardent supporter, who is intellectually honest, will not deny that his and his men’s statements have served to embolden those who have had it in them to point a gun at a person and actually pull the trigger. Hearing repeatedly on the television, on the internet and on the radio that these addicts and pushers are criminals of the lowest kind who do not deserve to live provides the necessary provocation to look at this class of individuals with such contempt, especially knowing the kind of hell they have placed our society in. To be sure, this provides the slightest provocation necessary for anyone who has any reason, no matter how twisted, to put a gun against someone else’s head and shoot. Past conduct, reputation, a person with a gun and just the right (or wrong) state of mind, and surely, many alleged addicts and pushers will fall, as they already do. 

It is bad enough that those who supposedly had anything to do with drugs were adjudged guilty not with the bang of a gavel, but that of a gun. It is infinitely worse when people who had never touched any form of illegal substance get caught in the crossfire. We actually cannot call them innocents, to be differentiated from those who were said to have links to drugs. Because for all intents and purposes, all these people are innocent. WERE innocent. Yes, even your reed-thin, filthy neighbor who looked every inch the addict, especially with that cardboard on his chest. They were presumed innocent when they died. Now, the courts have no way of confirming, or debunking, that.

Many have raised the morality of it. Much more have expressed fear that it can happen to them and their loved ones. Just last Friday, two women who were said to have just shared a ride with an alleged pusher were also killed by unknown men in motorcycles. It sure can happen to any of us. It can happen to me, while crossing the street. It can happen to you, while walking home in the dark. It can happen to my daughter, while she’s running around and playing outside. Or it can happen to the president’s youngest child. No one knows. 

When the president laid great emphasis on that phrase during his oath-taking, I expected him to keep his word. Now, I am holding you to that promise, Mr. President. Justice is not getting killed by unknown men in the streets. It is not getting killed by the police for supposedly resisting arrest. It is not getting killed and being found wrapped in packaging tape or a box. It is not taking a stray bullet and getting killed in the crossfire.

Justice is you, Mr. President, ordering the NBI to form a special task force composed of some 25 of its best investigators, to be assigned all over the country in proportion to the number of killings per region, to lead the investigation of each and every supposedly drug-related killing starting from when you took your oath.

Justice is you ordering the PNP to list down the names of all the cops involved in the killings of alleged drug pushers and users who supposedly resisted arrest, to be submitted to this special task force for further and more thorough investigation.

Justice is for this special task force to complete each investigation within 60 calendar days from the date of the killing of the person in question, or from the date of the formal creation of the special task force, whichever is later.

Justice is you, Mr. President, ordering the Department of Justice to file the necessary and well-substantiated cases against the individuals found to have committed these atrocities, as a result of the investigation of the NBI’s special task force, within 30 calendar days from the conclusion of each investigation.

Justice is you ordering the Justice Department to create a special team who will go around the country, down to every barangay, giving lectures to your constituents on criminal procedure, especially on the rights of the accused, in a manner that can be understood even by young children. The special team can enlist the assistance of private entities, lawyers’ groups, NGOs and the like to fulfill this task within one year from its creation.

This is how you can start doing justice to every man, woman and child in this country, Mr. President. Because without accountability, there can be no justice. This is how you can attempt to make them whole again, after losing a husband, a wife, a mother, a father, a sister, a brother, or a child. Because these men and women who had died as a result of your relentless and unbridled war on drugs were also your constituents. Some of them may have even contributed to your win as president. They were citizens of this country, too, Mr. President. You said you believed in restoring the dignity in the lives of every Filipino. Those killed were Filipinos, too, who deserve dignity even in death. Stay true to your word, Mr. President. Do justice to EVERY man, woman, and child.