" The President should abandon this idea. "
I cannot believe that it was President Duterte’s idea to arm civilian volunteers against crime. It’s crazy and dangerous.
Being a lawyer and a city mayor for a long time, Duterte knows the consequences of this action. First, it is an admission that the police can no longer perform its mandate of being the “protector of the people.” Second, arming civilian volunteers against crime would make the country as uncivilized as those who lived in the Wild Wild West of America who rely on guns as a means of survival.
Santa Banana, the country will be relieving those days when the gun was the king.
Besides, there’s the problem of so many loose firearms. Why add more arms to this problem? My gulay, with an estimated half a million loose firearms in the hands of private armies and criminal syndicates, what this country needs is gun control. Arming civilian volunteers would only exacerbate the problem.
Malacanang said that the idea is “speculative” and not a policy. The President should leave it at that. We don’t need more extra-judicial killings, my gulay!
**
These extrajudicial killings have prompted the International Criminal Court to investigate the Duterte government for crimes against humanity.
According to the former ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, there is reasonable basis to probe the Duterte administration, what with the alleged extra-judicial confessions of Duterte during his first three years in office.
According to reports, the ICC has in its possession videos and proof of extra-judicial killings. These were obviously furnished by critics of Duterte.
But are these really confessions?
On the first day of Duterte’s presidency, he said on video “If you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself as that having their parents to do it would be very too painful.”
Duterte also said that “I say let’s kill five criminals every week so they will be eliminated. “Please feel free to call us, the police, or do it yourself if you have a gun – you have my support. He also said on video that “If you are still on drugs, I’ll kill you. Don’t take this as a joke, I’m not trying to make you laugh since bitch, I’ll really kill you.”
In September 2016, Duterte told reporters that “there are 3 million drug addicts in the Philippines, I’ll be happy to slaughter them…Do not wait for me, I will kill,” he told reporters. “I will kill narco-politicians.” I myself heard him say during a speech that “I’ll not allow the police to go to jail. Between a criminal and a police, I can believe only the police,” he said.
We all know that Duterte has not forgotten his days as a mayor, talking tough and often using hyperbolic statements to emphasize a point.
Retired Senior Associate Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio says,there is jurisprudence supporting this. The Supreme Court supposedly ruled that confessions are valid when the accused admits his crime before reporters. Thus, Carpio alleges that these utterances, captured in video or print, are extra-judicial confessions.
I don’t want to argue with Carpio on points of law. I’m just a two-bit lawyer, and Carpio is a retired Supreme Court senior associate justice. But I think the ICC must present proof that indeed Duterte meant what he said, no merely exaggerating them to emphasize his point and through the use of hyperbole.
The ICC should take into consideration how Duterte speaks to prove a point. To a foreign ear, these could be extra-judicial confessions. But to those who know him, Santa Banana, that’s how he speaks.
I’m not dismissing what Duterte said about his war on illegal drugs, but the ICC needs corroboration. And then, of course, Duterte will refuse to cooperate. That to me is the core of the problem.
*****
These are some of the scenarios in the political scene, with 10 months until the May 9, 2022 elections:
1. PDP-Laban members are now saying that the ruling party may implode with the continuing war between President Duterte and Senator Manny Pacquiao, with the President now calling Pacquao a liar. It is also said that there are now moves on the part of PDP-Laban members who are die-hard Duterte followers to remove Pacquiao as acting president. It appears that Pacquiao has become arrogant because of his billions, and may even challenge Duterte’s choice for President.
2. Senator Dick Gordon, who tried to become President in 2010 but lost, may try his luck again in 2022. Just what party he will run under is anybody’s guess. And who will be his running mate?
3. A combination of Go-Duterte is beginning to swell in the ruling party.
4. WIll Duterte really go for the vice presidency? That’s the question. How valid is Duterte’s statement that he has given permission for presidential daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio to run for the presidency?
Everything seems to be speculative at this point!
