Scattered Pieces: Stranger's Point of View

Entry No. 2: Summary Execution and Extra-Judicial Killing: Bypass of the Law

Extra Judicial Killing is defined as killing of a person by governmental authorities without the sanction of any judicial proceeding or legal process. Extrajudicial punishments are mostly seen by humanity to be unethical since they bypass the due process of the legal jurisdiction. On the other hand, summary execution is an execution in which a person is accused of a crime and immediately killed without benefit of full and fair trial.

Currently, news are spreading about the dead bodies of drug suspected syndicates and drug pushers have been found in certain areas in the country with a signage "Tulak ako, Wag Tularan." It is considered as unjust killing and extremely wrong, because all human being have human rights including criminals, big time or not.

It is clearly stated in the 1987 Constitution, Section 1 of the Bill of Rights that "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty and property without due process of the law, nor shall be denied with the equal protection of the law".

Dura lex, sed lex is the Latin words for "The law is harsh, but it is the law," means that no matter how hard the law, it is our obligation to follow it. Due process in our country maybe slow, but it is not an excuse to have a summary execution and extra-judicial killing for they take away the human rights. Everyone deserves a trial, a fair trial. An accused person is presumed innocent until the contrary is proved.

What happened to them is unjustifiable, in the eye of the law and in the eye of the people, but still many are blind to see the truth. The truth is many Filipinos are idolizing the president so much to the extent of defending him although his deeds are not right anymore. It seems like that the citizens are being fooled by social media, and baseless accusation. Not because they are drug pushers, it doesn't mean that they do not deserve the due process.

What if they are really innocents, and just being framed up by their enemies? How about the families they left? How about their dreams that are now gone? What's the use of human rights that is mandated by the law?

The war on drugs has caused so much death and grief. Recently, Kian Loyd delos Santos was fatally shot by police officers conducting an anti-drug operation in Caloocan, Metro Manila. The case became controversial when the official police reports differed from witness accounts and CCTV footage.

This caused rallies, peaceful movements and complaints from Filipino citizens who are asking for justice. This is the strong evidence that the war on drugs on Philippines is getting worse and is not right anymore. It should be stop. We as Filipinos must open our eyes to the reality that we should speak and fight for our rights. We should condemn the unjust killing. We must show strong disapproval on summary execution.