Impunity and Kian
THERE are some interesting takes by Merriam-Webster online (merriamwebster.com) on the word “impunity.” “Impunity” actually has something in common with the words “pain,” “penal” and “punish” in that it traces its origin to the Latin word “poena,” meaning punishment. “Poena” in turn comes from the Greek word “poine,” which means payment or penalty. “Impunity,” according to Merriam-Webster, is “exemption or freedom from punishment.”
But the website did not stop there. In the section, “Recent Examples of Impunity from the Web” is this entry: “There is nothing unusual about Philippine police murdering with impunity.” That one is a quote from a July 4, 2017 Time article written by Joseph Hincks titled “Duterte Has Brazenly Reinstated 19 Police Who Murdered a Philippine Mayor Last Year.”
The article refers to Supt. Marvin Marcos and other former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 8 agents who were accused of summarily executing former Albuera town mayor Rolando Espinosa but escaped murder charges and were thus reinstated to the police service and given fresh assignments.
The Espinosa case was not the focus of the Merriam-Webster entry. Still, the use by MerriamWebster of the word “impunity” in reference to a report on what is happening in the Philippines is what made it interesting. That could mean “exemption or freedom from punishment” can best be seen in the prevailing situation in the country.
There is a definition of “impunity” lengthier than the Meriam-Webster one. The “Set of Principles for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights Through Action to Combat Impunity” submitted to the United Commission on Human Rights on Feb 8, 2005 defines impunity as, “the impossibility, de jure or de facto, of bringing the perpetrators of violations to account – whether in criminal, civil, administrative or disciplinary proceedings – since they are not subject to any inquiry that might lead to their being accused, arrested, tried and, if found guilty, sentenced to appropriate penalties, and to making reparations to their victims.” History has shown, time and again, that when impunity reigns in governance, specifically in “law enforcement,” cases like that of Kian Loyd delos Santos happen. SSCebu