Nope, we are not referring to the United States that has been traditionally referred to as the Philippines’ “Big Brother,” but former president and now special presidential envoy to China Fidel V. Ramos or FVR, whose patience must have worn thin listening to President Rodrigo Duterte cussing the European Union, the United Nations and the United States. They may be silent, but many in the military privately agree with FVR that decades of partnership should not be flushed down the drain just like that, concerned that we are playing right into the hands of the communists who, as everyone knows, are the “traditional” adversary of the military on account of the long-running New People’s Army-led insurgency.
So far, the current president has not trained his verbal arrows on the former president whom Duterte has publicly acknowledged as the man largely responsible for his win in the May 2016 presidential elections. Many wonder though if in private, President Digong may have uttered an expletive or two after reading (or hearing about) that article of FVR, describing the government’s first 100 days in office as a huge disappointment and a letdown. (Old fogeys who remember the “Dear Kuya Eddie” show hosted by former senator Eddie Ilarde tell us they are dedicating the theme song to the president, which has a refrain that goes, “Napakasakit Kuya Eddie” to describe what Duterte must have felt.)
Buhay party list representative Lito Atienza is also advising the president to listen to “Kuya Eddie” especially with regard to the government’s war against illegal drugs. In television interview, FVR said police should learn how to shoot suspects in a way that would just disable—not kill them—in order to extract information.
“It is not always shoot to kill which is the mission of the law enforcer, it is shoot to disable,” Ramos said. “How do you get an investigation carried out properly if the suspect is dead? But if only wounded or disabled, then he can tell (you information),” he reiterated. But then again, it’s also true that dead men tell no tales, which could be the likely explanation why some addicts or dealers who surrender to the police end up dead a few days later.
PNP chief, General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa says there is no such thing as a death squad—at least in Metro Manila, and that if there is any “quota” at all, it is not in the number of killings but the suspects who surrender. Many agree though that shooting to disable will also help deflect suspicions that the government is violating human rights or is sanctioning these “extra-judicial killings.” Surely, the police could be taught to shoot to maim or incapacitate so that they can still have suspects to question, some of our buddies argue. Some however say that it is instinctive for one to shoot to kill in the face of danger.
Atienza, who is known as a pro-life advocate, points out that whether these extra-judicial killings are being carried out by overzealous law enforcers, by vigilante groups, by rival drug gangs, or by felons covering up murders by tagging their victims as pushers, “government is duty-bound to restore law and order and put an end to the bloodshed.”
•••
For comments, reactions, photos, stories and related concerns, readers may email to happyhourtoday2012@yahoo.com. You may also visit and like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/happyhourmanilastandard. Cheers!
