Honoring heroes
Paying tribute to the nation’s heroes, President Duterte yesterday urged Filipinos to uphold the rule of law and emulate the heroes’ virtues as his administration continues to fight criminality and poverty.
The statement was issued to celebrate National Heroes Day today. It was also issued a day after the burial of 17-year-old Kian Loyd delos Santos, the 11th grader whose death at the hands of the Caloocan police has triggered public outrage that has been largely missing in the thousands of other suspected extrajudicial killings since last year.
The President is correct in pointing out the importance of peace and order in promoting economic growth and generally improving the quality of life. He believes that if he can drastically reduce criminality, other elements necessary for development and poverty alleviation will fall into place. He has forced the nation to confront the seriousness of the drug problem and how narco politics is tearing apart the fabric of families, communities and society in general.
People realize that the war on drugs is not pretty. Drug money has the kind of corrupting influence that makes its beneficiaries ready to use armed violence to sustain their immense profits. The killing of Kian delos Santos, however, has highlighted what happens when the elbowroom enjoyed in this country by law enforcers in waging the ugly war on drugs is brazenly abused.
Last week President Duterte acknowledged that he would never be able to end the drug menace. This, however, does not mean he is giving up or stopping his war; it will be sustained until his final day in power, and even beyond, as he has vowed.
But he can take his own advice to heart, even as his forces wage his war relentlessly: the rule of law and the war on drugs need not be mutually exclusive. Or at least short cuts to law enforcement, which leave a wide room for grievous mistakes and the death of innocents, need not be completely indispensable for winning the war. As the President himself has declared, upholding the nation’s democratic ideals is a good way to honor the nation’s heroes today.