Dave Anthony E.

Urot
EH308
LLB
September 12, 2016

Reaction on Extra Judicial Killing

Extra judicial killing has been defined as is the killing (mainly politically
motivated) of a person by governmental authorities or dominant political
groups without the sanction of any judicial proceeding or legal process. Extra
judicial killing has been rampant long before the marcos regime albeit only the
popularity only grew during the presidency of the Duterte administration. It has
gained fame even among the international community, although the
administration does not acknowledge Extra Judicial killing.
I am saddened and furious both at the same time, many of the citizens
of our country supposed to be law abiding citizens support this acts. I was
shocked on the level of information of an ordinary citizen on issues like this.
The Statis quo of the country is something that needs to be changed.
What more is instead of praising the students for being active on issues
like this, they are bashed and insulted, saying they have no intelligence and
should just be diligent in studying. We should remind everybody that learning is
not limited to the four corners of the classroom, even more it should not be
limited at all.
It is in the Filipinos' misguided belief that concepts like due process and
extra-judicial killings are somehow associated with personalities and political
parties. That upholding due process is tantamount to going against President
Duterte or that saying no to extra-judicial killings is being pro-LP. How
wonderful.
Due process in its simplest form is merely a safeguard against wrongful
persecution of the innocent. It is hearing you out before kicking you to the
curb. Extra-judicial killing is the direct antithesis of that. There is nothing that
shields the wrongfully accused. Its point, shoot and say bye-bye to everything
you hold dear. No questions asked. No process of determining guilt or
innocence. The issue of EJK has gotten to a point where we have become
comfortable flipping through today's paper and not giving a hoot about the
picture of corpses on the front page. We have embraced it as our new norm.

Still I believe this is not the biggest problem in the Philippines neither is
poverty nor corruption. The biggest problems of the Philippines are the
misinformed educated ones who have access to online information. Those who
choose to blurt out emotions over reasons. Those who hype up issues based on
hearsay rather than validated facts. Those who speak up as if they know the
whole truth, rather than engage people to political conversations. Those who
resort to mudslinging rather than evidence-based dialogue. And those who
have all the references in the world for deliberate and responsible reading but
opt for impulsive short-cuts just to get ahead in the newsfeed. The biggest
problems of the Philippines are not those who are residing in slums or shanties.
But that whose comforts are in cyberspace, where intelligence is determined by
the number of likes, shares, and comments. These people are the very reason
why we have democratic deficits, why our laws are relegated to piece of
papers, and why the Philippines continue to have dark prospects for the youth.