Impunity and the rule of law
>> Tuesday, January 3, 2017
ON DISTANT SHORE
By Val G. Abelgas
Be careful what you wish for.
When Filipinos wished their next president
would be a strong leader, one who would not be afraid to strictly enforce the
law even if it goes against those wielding wealth and power, they did not
envision a despotic leader who would ignore the rule of law, and enforce his
will even if it violates the law.
Now, we have
in our midst a leader who does not only have a penchant to disrespect the rule
of law, but one who threatens anyone that blocks his way as he pursues his
one-track quest to rid the country of illegal drugs and anyone who peddles or
uses them.
More than
6,000 bodies lay on the wayside less than six months since President Duterte
became leader of the more than 100 million Filipinos and he vows to
relentlessly pursue his brutal drug war until the last drug user or peddler has
been removed from the streets.
He has
launched personal battles with those who dared criticize his method of
cleansing the country of criminals and drug addicts, including endless tirades
against leaders of the free world – the United States, the United Nations, the
European Union, Australia and so many others, calling them “hypocrites” and
“sons of whore” and warning to cut ties with them.
He
threatened to demolish his biggest local critic – Sen. Leila de Lima – that
gave his loyal lackeys in the House of Representatives the go-signal to launch
the biggest demolition job ever in that House of Honorables. To her credit, De
Lima has fought back valiantly where others may have folded silently.
Even before
he officially became President of the Philippines, Duterte had already
threatened media by saying that media members are fair game for assassinations
if they were corrupt, which perhaps explain why some publications and broadcast
media have become tame and meek amidst the daily murders happening in the
country.
And then he
threatened police, judges and local officials nationwide by claiming he has a
list of people engaged in “narco-politics” and that he wouldn’t hesitate to
include them in his brutal campaign. In no time, officials who learned they
were on the list surrendered to authorities to deny such accusations, but some
of them ended up dead anyway after allegedly fighting it out with lawmen. Those
who were not in the list dare not cross his path.
The Supreme
Court protested the inclusion of judges in the list and Chief Justice Sereno
ordered judges not to issue warrants unless they are within the bounds of the
law, but which judge would dare defy the police who have been virtually given
blanket authority by the President in his war against illegal drugs by saying
he would protect policemen and even reward them if they killed suspected drug
users and pushers?
Recently,
Duterte also threatened to include lawyers of suspected drug lords in the war
against drugs, which completes his trampling of the rule of law and the basic
rights provided by the Constitution, which gives suspects the right to be
deemed innocent until proven guilty, to have a fair trial, and to have legal
representation.
While we
understand Duterte’s frustration with the slow grind of the wheels of justice,
the three branches of government – the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary –
should sit down and find ways to get the wheels moving faster and not scrap the
suspects’ rights altogether just because those tasked to render justice have
been negligent in their duties.
But the most
troubling sign that the rule of law has no place in this administration is when
Duterte categorically stated during an event commemorating the UN Convention of
Corruption last week that despite the findings of the Department of Justice and
the National Bureau of Investigation that the killing of Mayor Roland Espinosa
and another detainee inside a Leyte prison by elements of the Criminal
Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) was a “rubout,” Duterte said he stood
by the CIDG’s claim that they killed Espinosa after the latter shot it out with
them while they were serving a search warrant in the dead of night.
“I will not
allow these guys to go to prison. I don’t care if the NBI says it was murder.
Anyway, the NBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are both under [my
authority],” Duterte said during a speech last week, referring to the CIDG
operatives.
“I will be
the one to answer for it and go to prison. I have no problem with that. When I
was young, I went in and out of prison. I’m used to it,” he said. He added:
“For us mayors, who will we believe? The policemen or [the] criminals? If the
police said that’s really the truth, but the NBI said it was murder, what the
police told me is the truth for me.”
His
statement was a clear rejection of the findings of the NBI and the DOJ, which
recommended the filing of murder charges against them CIDG men. In his
arrogance, Duterte wouldn’t even allow criminal proceedings to go through the
normal processes. Even if the case goes to court, there is always the statement
of the President no less hanging over the heads of the NBI, the prosecutors and
the judge. Would they dare embarrass the President?
De Lima
hinted that the President could be impeached for his statement, to which
Duterte replied with his usual arrogant line: “They can go ahead. Maraming
daldal (They talk too much). I have to satisfy their lust for whatever. Let
them be. Impeachable? Go ahead.”
This recent
outbursts by the President in defense of policemen contribute immensely to the
culture of impunity in the country. His stubborn defense of policemen involved
in extrajudicial killings only embolden murderers to commit their criminal acts
with heightened impunity.
During the
campaign, Duterte promised that he would pardon policemen who kill criminals,
or even civilians, in the line of duty. Also during the campaign in February,
Duterte said he would provide a “pre-signed form” to law enforcers, which would
assure the latter of presidential pardon should they get prison terms for
deaths during encounters with criminals.
Candidate Duterte
also said that if he got elected, he would direct policemen and the military to
not be deterred in killing “all” criminals because it is his “personal order.”
These
statements obviously emboldened policemen and vigilantes to start shooting down
suspects as soon as it was clear that Duterte would be president, assured that
they would go unpunished.
What is even
alarming is that Duterte has rejected all opposition to his brutal war on drugs
and arrogantly declares that the killings would continue until the last drug
user or pusher has been placed out of commission. By his own estimate, there
are 3.4 million drug addicts and dealers in the country. Does that mean we are
just seeing the beginning of a deep-seethed cleansing and that we should expect
more bloodied bodies on our streets?
Impunity
feeds on the breakdown of the rule of law. (valabelgas@aol.com)
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