Let there be no further misreading of the order

THE conviction last Thursday of three Caloocan City policemen of the crime of murder for the killing of a 17-year-old youth in a police anti-drugs operation in August, 2017, was a stirring victory for Philippine justice at a time when doubts are being expressed about the government’s ongoing drive against crime, in seeming violation of established legal and constitutional norms.

At the start of the new administration’s campaign against illegal drugs in 2016, President Duterte ordered the police to go all out against the drug menace, specifically telling them to shoot to kill if their own lives are in danger. Should the drug suspect fight back – “nanlaban” – fire first, he said.

The presidential instructions were clear enough, but his words may have encouraged some policemen to think they would be protected even in their excesses. The death toll mounted steadily in the course of the campaign, drawing critical attention from the United Nations Commission on Human Rights as well as many foreign leaders, among them former United States President Barack Obama.

As the reported body count steadily increased and criticism mounted, President Duterte replaced the Philippine National Police (PNP) with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) as the lead group in the anti-drugs campaign. The government finally announced that as of October 31, 2018, the death toll in the drive stood at 4,999. There were over 22,000 other deaths but these were said to be related to robberies, gang wars, ambushes, etc., and were described as “Deaths under Inquiry.”

Kian Lloyd de los Santos was killed on the night of August 16, 2017, by policemen who claimed the youth had a gun and resisted arrest. A witness, however, said the police punched and slapped the teen, then handed him a gun and told him to fire it and run. He refused and the police shot him, even as he pleaded, “Sir, huwag po!” -- twice in the head and once in the back.

“The court commiserates with our policemen who regularly thrust their lives in zones of danger, but the use of unnecessary force and wanton violence is not justified when the fulfillment of their duty as law enforcers can be effected otherwise,” the judge said in convicting the three accused policemen. “A shoot-first, think-later attitude can never be countenanced in a civil society.”

Following the court decision, PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Benigno Durana Jr. said there was never a state-sponsored policy to kill drug suspects, unless they put up a fight and the lives of the policemen are in danger. That was indeed stressed from the beginning of the campaign, but some policemen may have misunderstood the President’s original order. Or they used it to cover up their violations and their excesses.

Now that the first court ruling has been issued, there should be no further misreading of the presidential order. The drive against drugs must continue, but it must be carried out with all due respect for the law, most especially the rights of the common people, like young Kian Lloyd de los Santos of Caloocan City who was mercilessly gunned down while pleading for his life.