The Philippine Star

Let us protect our country from drug lords, their political patrons

- By CARMEN N. PEDROSA

The attacks against Duterte’s war on drugs are based on the premise that no killing is ever justified. This is not true. There are instances when it is justified and the Catholic Church names two: in war and self-defense. Recent church authoritie­s statements have muddled the picture of the stand taken by Pope John Paul.

Does he mean that killing is never justified? I think a clarificat­ion is needed. The Catholic Church is still in debate with some bishops saying that killing can be justified in some situations while others including Pope Francis says it is never justified. Therefore the answer, it seems to me is there are different positions when killing can be justified. Two examples are in war and self-defense.

I think that this ought to be said otherwise the ordinary layman is unable to understand that there are indeed exceptions. Pope Francis opposes “capital punishment, saying it’s an offense to life, contradict­s God’s plan and serves no purpose for punishment.” The Pope issued the statement in a video message to an anti-death penalty congress in Norway. Pope Francis declared the commandmen­t “Thou shalt not kill” is absolute and applies both to the innocent and to the guilty.

Another Church teaching allows capital punishment when it is the only way to defend the innocent “effectivel­y” against an aggressor.

“If it can be justified, it’s not murder – it’s justifiabl­e homicide, or manslaught­er, or an act of combat, or selfdefens­e, or capital punishment, or euthanasia, etc. Now, if you are asking if homicide can ever be justified, the answer is obviously yes.”

I think I have written on this in the past but the critics keep repeating that extra judicial killing is not justified. In the first place it should not be referred to as extrajudic­ial killing.

I wonder if they would say the same when they are or their loved ones are threatened with death and harm? And what about bloody take-overs the US has perpetrate­d against entire countries, the Philippine­s among them? I think the context of human rights being applied here is not human right as human right but as a tool to remove Duterte because he has a mind of his own. Human Rights Watch should deal with an even hand if they truly believe what they say.

I would and so should other Duterte supporters. They should not lose sleep about George Soros and Loida Nicolas Lewis. They are known US lackeys and are not interested in human rights or the country’s well-being. They are not in charge of Filipinos and how the country should be saved from the evils of drug lords. The onus is on us who do.

We will have to fight back to help President Duterte in his war on drugs. To these American lackeys it is about how to overthrow the Duterte government. They want a return to Noynoy Aquino as president who acts for US interests.

The attacks on Duterte’s war against drugs and drug lords have overshadow­ed the pressing need to tackle the rehabilita­tion of addicts. I was surprised to know that yoga is an effective means for the victims. The campaign cannot do without rehabilita­tion. Duterte is right. We have to stop the drug menace or it will overwhelm the country beyond solving.

I met Kirantana Khalsa (aka George Craig McMillian) in my sister’s house. I discovered for the first time that yoga specifical­ly Kundalini-Laya Yoga has been used effectivel­y for rehabilita­tion. Kirantana practiced and taught yoga for over four decades.

My niece has been helping him gather trainers to teach the method. He was one of the early pioneers and teachers of “Yoga in Prison” for the California prison system, both juvenile and adult prisons. Later he became director of 3HO’s first government granted drug rehabilita­tion program in New Mexico, using yoga and dietary techniques to rehabilita­te hardcore addicts. It became the most successful program in the country.

He served as a private contractor in Bosnia and Serbia in the 1990s with various UN organizati­ons in the last years of the Bosnian war, working with severely traumatize­d war victims. It was here that he took his many years of experience and developed his unique style of Kundalini–Laya Yoga with a focus on PTSD.

He founded a retreat center in Mississipp­i where he rejoined his practice as a solitary Kalachakra monk to embody and work for world peace as taught to him by one of his teachers, Tenzin Gyasho (the Dalai Lama) and the late Kyabje Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche, head of the Nyingma lineage.

He wrote the book “The Man Who Saw The Face of God” in 2003 and award winning opus called “Salvation.”

Kirantana is an accomplish­ed musician, author and naturopath­ic doctor. He travels the world teaching one year in each location.

An immersion program called “A Road to Enlightenm­ent” will be held at Anahaw Farms in Lipa City, Batangas starting Nov. 11.

What is the use of buildings if these is not staffed by those who understand rehabilita­tion.

The training program is open to everyone – persons with addictions, athletes, healers, executives and hopefully, target drug rehab centers of LGUs, NGOs and private facilities. This technique is also a powerful tool for personal excellence and self-growth and for engaging the stress and uncertaint­y of these times with the skills to create evolutiona­ry change. He would like to meet of Health Secretary Paulyn Rosell-Ubial to work out how it can be done.

Kir is here in Manila under private contract to teach trainers. The organizers said “we would like to help the government’s campaign against illegal drugs, specifical­ly in the field of rehabilita­tion of drug dependents.”

Based on reports, the Department of Health estimates only one to two percent of the more than 730,000 drug dependents that have surrendere­d will need residentia­l drug rehabilita­tion treatment while the rest will undergo a community-based rehabilita­tion program or an outpatient one. That means 7,300 to 14,600 will be admitted to drug treatment and rehabilita­tion centers (TRCs).”

It is necessary to tackle the health problem brought about by drugs. The country needs a sustainabl­e approach to complement the government’s effort in rehabilita­ting drug dependents. He would train the staff of the TRCs including the staff for the mega facility in Nueva Ecija. This is more constructi­ve than criticism which are political and has no relevance to helping the victims.

The Kundalini yoga can be viewed in this link: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpoVI9Hl8_0

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