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TACTICAL BAPTISM
Sabug refused to disclose the location of the explosives. Major Pain, press in
time came up with an idea to extract information from Sabug. He plans to use
“waterboarding” or “tactical baptism”, the practice of pouring water over a cloth
covering the face to simulate the experience of drowning. Major Pain justifies that
he will only use a sanitized hanker chief and a 300ml distilled drinking water. He
goes further in saying that it will not pose danger to the life of Sabug and innocent
Filipino lives will be saved once his humane enhanced interrogation technique is
employed.
Q. Is Major Benson Pain correct and justified to use waterboarding against Abu
Sabug? Explain.
The 1987 Philippine Constitution states that, “The Philippines renounces war
as an instrument of national policy, adopts the generally accepted principles of
international law as part of the law of the land and adheres to the policy of peace,
equality, justice, freedom, cooperation, and amity with all nations (Article II, Sec. 2).
The law does not distinguish between individuals and their rights must be
equally protected. This applies even to the most notorious terrorist. Even if tactical
baptism does not physically impose danger to the life of Sabug, it is still considered
as “torture” (mental or psychological), as defined under R.A. No. 9851.
Cardo Dalisay now a Police Colonel received a tip from his most reliable
informant Gerard Anderson. The two has been cooperating for the past 15 years
busting organized crime groups left and right. Anderson tells Dalisay that the
infamous Skull Criminal Group led by its founder Dante “Bungo” Macarandang has
consolidated their drugs, weapons and other contrabands in a single warehouse
located at #1553-B Pureza St., City of Manila. The former goes on in telling Dalisay
that the warehouse will be abandoned after 5 days. Realizing that Macarandang’s
criminal network will be greatly diminished once their stockpile is seized, Colonel
Cardo Dalisay wasted no time and decided to raid the said warehouse even without
a search warrant.
During the raid, Bungo was not present, instead, a lone warehouseman
named Anthony Sanchez was arrested. Sanchez claims that his Human and
Constitutional Rights have been violated.
Q. Are the above-confiscated articles during the raid admissible in evidence against
Antonio Sanchez? Explain.
The raid conducted by Cardo Dalisay without any search warrant is a clear
violation of the constitutional guarantee of security of persons and their property as
provided under Article III of the 1987 Philippine Constitution:
The constitution is clear in its provisions; hence, the confiscated articles are
inadmissible in evidence against Antonio Sanchez because they are “fruits of a
poisonous tree”.
3. WHO IS A TERRORIST?
Q. Is Norte Muna and its members considered a terrorist under Philippine laws?
Explain.
Under Republic Act No. 9372 or the Human Security Act of 2007, Terrorism
must have the following elements:
(1) any person who commits an act punishable under Articles 122, 134, 134-
a, 248, 267, and 324 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC); or those under P.D. No.
1613, R.A. No. 6969, R.A. No. 5207, R.A. No. 6235, P.D. No. 532, and P.D. No.
1866, as amended.
(2) said acts sow and create a condition of widespread and extraordinary fear
and panic among the populace; and
This case lacks the third element. Although the bombings killed and injured
several people, it is not considered as an act of terrorism under Philippine laws.
Such crimes may be considered as Murder (or frustrated murder) under Article 248
of the RPC, Serious Physical Injuries under Article 263 of the RPC, or Genocide
under Section 5 of R.A. No. 9851.
4. HOLLOW POINTS
Ballistic experts say that hollow point bullets or bullets which expand or flatten
easily in the human body upon impact have more stopping power compared to the
regular ball ammunition.
The use of a hollow point bullet is considered as a war crime and punishable
under R.A. No. 9851:
Section 4. War Crimes. For the purpose of this Act, "war crimes" or "crimes against
International Human Humanitarian Law" means:
xxx
(25) Employing means of warfare which are prohibited under international law,
such as:
(iii) Bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human body, such as
bullets with hard envelopes which do not entirely cover the core or are pierced
with incisions; and
In addition to the above prohibition, the use of hollow point bullets is also
violative of the Principle of Military Necessity which permits the employment of any
amount of force to compel the complete submission of the enemy with the least
possible loss of lives, time, and money. This is also relatable to the Principle of
Humanity which prohibits the use of any measure that is not absolutely necessary for
the purposes of war, such as the poisoning of wells, use of dumdum bullets, etc.
The ultimate goal of the military in an armed conflict, such as the Marawi
Siege, is to pacify the enemy and bring back peace in the area. Although armed
conflicts may necessarily involve killings and destruction, the humanitarian laws and
declarations mandate that these should be kept in the minimum. We must only do
what is necessary and proportional; otherwise, we are no different from these
belligerents who discriminately kill people including civilians.