Stop Extra-Judicial Killings and Value Human Dignity for a Safe and Better Society

By: Jeff Andrey B. Santos

“To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity,” a quote once said by Nelson
Mandela. He believes that people should not be deprived of their basic human rights which includes the
right to life and the right to due process. This has been reaffirmed by the 1987 Philippine Constitution in
Section 1, Article III which provides that “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without
due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the law.” However, it is very
unfortunate that the extra-judicial killings that are happening now in the Philippines like the case of Kian
delos Santos, Carl Angelo Arnaiz and Reynaldo de Guzman are very alarming and should be addressed
immediately. Therefore, nobody is safe in what is happening right now as everyone can be a target which
has already been noted in the recent killings of minors in Metro Manila.

True enough, nobody is exempted and we all should understand that the Philippines is no longer a safe
place to live because of some reasons. The first reason is that we can no longer trust our Philippine
National Police whose duty should be to serve and protect the people and yet, many policemen have been
linked to committing extra-judicial killings, especially here in Caloocan City. This should be investigated by
the president as he himself recently stated that he reminded the military and the police that it should be
in the performance of duty and that they are not allowed to kill a person who is kneeling down, begging
for his life which would already be a clear case of murder. The second reason is because of our poor
judicial system that is being manipulated by those in power, while the poor is being treated unfairly.
Justice should be served for the benefit of all and not the rich as it allows the rich to escape their crimes
and let the poor be held responsible for crimes that they never committed. The last reason would be our
incompetent and corrupt government officials who should have addressed the problem regarding the
drug trade in the country a long time ago and yet, they are the ones who are involved in protecting the
drug trade which have been destroying lives of people, especially the youth. The problem with the drug
trade can be resolved if we strengthen our institutions like the Philippine National Police, Bureau of
Customs and others, by having a better and strict system which would restrict them to commit corruption
at the first place.

Furthermore, most people may argue that the police should take the lead in making our community safe,
but they fail to realize that we could also contribute to the safety of the society in some ways. First, it
should start with us by educating ourselves to be aware of the law to be guided on what is illegal because
ignorance of the law excuses no one. Secondly, we could build moral barriers against crime by teaching
the young the acts that are morally unacceptable for them to develop a conscience and an understanding
even at a very young age. Thirdly, we should not allow our friends or family to use drugs as it is the root
cause for violence to occur and we can do this by telling them the bad impacts of drugs to their lives and
talking to them about their problems to make them feel that someone is listening to them. Lastly, we
must be vigilant at all times and when violence may arise, we must keep ourselves safe from danger first
before calling the authorities to respond. These are some of the ways that we may do to contribute in
making our society a safe place to live for everyone.
In conclusion, this is the reality of our current situation in the country and it is time for us to call to the
government to address this problem. This is something that all people should also realize as we are no
longer living in a safe place. However, we all want to live in a safe society. On that note, I wish to commend
the president on his commitment to eradicate crime, drugs and violence in the Philippines. However, the
government must still ensure that all people must be given a fair trial as extra-judicial killings are never
permitted under the law. Fair justice should always prevail, especially when lives are at stake. Therefore,
let us all aim to put an end to extra-judicial killings, while uplifting human dignity for a safe and better
society.