Deadly route
Notwithstanding the glowing praises from Rody’s diehard supporters and social media trolls that he is the best President we ever had, the naked truth still shows that the situation in our country right now under his rule is so precarious. We are presently living in dangerous times. Human lives have become so cheap with so many unexplained killings and violence occurring each day in relation to Kuya Rody’s war against prohibited drugs.
Rody’s campaign against illegal drugs and drug trafficking is laudable and very much needed indeed. But the means employed must be within the bounds of the law. “The end does not justify the means.” The numerous killings of mere suspects under suspicious circumstances can never be justified. In fact only during this administration are there so many killings by people riding in tandem obviously carried out because of sinister and personal motives. They pretend to be part of the on-going war against illegal drugs. It is not farfetched to believe therefore that some lawless elements are taking advantage of the current war against illegal drugs to carry out their illegal activities.
Every day since Rody assumed office, our streets especially in the slum areas have been littered with bullet-riddled and bloodied corpses of suspected drug users, pushers and traffickers who are already considered as “criminals” even before they are charged, tried and convicted by our courts. These killings in the operation against the illegal trafficking of prohibited drugs now appear to be normal and accepted by our people.
Rody himself appears to be quite alarmed by our present situation. He realizes that something is wrong with the killings in his campaign against dangerous drugs. He told cops to follow the rules of engagement in their operations and not to carry out any unlawful killings. He reminded them for the first time to kill suspects only in self defense or when their lives are endangered because of the unlawful aggression on the part of those being arrested by using means that are reasonably necessary to prevent or repel the aggression.
Hopefully with these new guidelines, the unlawful killings may be reduced and the rules of engagement will be strictly observed. Rody must back up his words with concrete actions in this connection. His supporters should stop justifying these unlawful killings with the alleged heinous crimes committed by suspected drug addicts. Such killings cannot be justified because of their supposedly good purpose to solve the drug problem besetting our country. It is wrong for his trolls to conclude right away that those killed are criminals because they have not yet been tried and convicted by our courts. I have said it before and I will say it again, “Two wrongs do not a right make.”
Another worrisome development under Kuya Rody’s administration is that even the life of the helpless and innocent unborn children in the womb of a mother are endangered. Rody himself is pushing for the implementation of the Reproductive Health (RH) Law even if there is still a pending case in the Supreme Court (SC) regarding its implementation. The sad part here is that Rody is even assailing a co-equal and independent branch of government because it issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the implementation of said law. He must realize or his advisers should tell him that the SC TRO only pertains to the use of certain contraceptives that may primarily or secondarily cause abortion or the killing of the unborn fetus in the mothers’ womb (abortifacients).
The SC’s order in this connection merely requires the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Department of Health (DOH) to certify or re-certify that some contraceptives and devices to be distributed are not abortifacients. Up to now however, the FDA has not certified or re-certified that some contraceptives like the implanon and devices like the implants which are to be distributed free of charge by the DOH, do not cause abortion either primarily or secondarily as defined by the SC. So the delay in the implementation of the RH law is not because of the SC TRO but because of lack of certification or re-certification by the FDA on what contraceptives and devices are safe and will not cause abortion. Pushing for the implementation of the RH law at this stage violates Section 12, Article II of the Constitution which provides that the State “shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception.”
It is also interesting to note that Tatay Rody himself has repeatedly warned that he will kill people who will destroy our country. Indeed, our Constitution itself contains provisions protecting and preserving our nation. Article XV Section 2, clearly and unequivocally declares that “marriage, as an inviolable institution is the foundation of the family and shall be protected by the State.” The family in turn is the “foundation of the nation” so the State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution” (Article II Section 12). The State shall also strengthen its solidarity and actively promotes its total development (Article XV Section 1).
The irony here however is that Rody’s own allies in Congress, particularly Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, are the very ones trying to destroy our country by proposing a law destroying marriage which is the basic foundation of the family and the nation. Alvarez is proposing a law in violation of our Charter by dissolving marriage on the purely selfish ground that the spouses do not love each other anymore. He wants to pass the law so he can sever the marriage bond with his estranged wife.
Hence Rody should change the course of the Ship of State he is steering. Otherwise, we may not safely reach the shore by the end of his term.
* * * Email: attyjosesison@gmail.com