Opportunities for abuse

A policeman jumped to his death recently as he faced criminal and administrative probes on allegations of summary execution. Several other police officers face similar investigation. The Philippine National Police is also pursuing complaints about killings attributed to vigilantes.

The killings have been linked to the ongoing war on illegal drugs. The campaign starts with police knocking on homes and informing residents about the drug menace, or else inviting suspected drug abusers and pushers to present themselves to authorities. The drug war has been brutal and its rules and parameters are unclear, opening the campaign to abuses. PNP officials have pointed to vigilantes rather than police as the ones responsible for more than half of the killings, which as of yesterday stood at around 2,400 nationwide.

Because of the possibilities for abuse, the administration must avoid similar vagueness in the presidential declaration of a “state of national emergency on account of lawless violence.” Officials said President Duterte signed the proclamation before his departure for Laos to attend the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The proclamation, Palace officials said, was still unnumbered and was just one-and-one-fourth page long.

What the nation has been told is that the state of national emergency is not martial law. It therefore needs no concurrence by Congress or regular reporting by Malacañang to the legislature. The state of emergency is indefinite and will be lifted only when the President says so. The writ of habeas corpus has not been suspended and civil liberties especially those guaranteed under the Constitution will be respected.

So what is the creature exactly? The proclamation allows the President to call in the military to suppress lawless violence. But isn’t the military already involved in counterinsurgency and counterterrorism? Officials said the President had considered issuing the proclamation even before the bombing of the night market in Davao City late Friday night that killed 15 people and wounded about 70 others.

Perhaps the nation will get a clearer picture of what the proclamation entails when the President returns from Laos and his working visit to Indonesia. The clarification is needed before certain elements see vague provisions in the proclamation as opportunities for abuse.