Saturday, January 20, 2007 Carvajal: More than overkill By Orlando P. Carvajal Break Point
ILOILO Gov. Neil Tupas might have been guilty as hell and illegally intransigent up to high heavens, but nothing could justify the use of brute force to evict him that we all saw on TV.
The savagery (I can’t really think of a more appropriate word) with which the Swat team conducted the raid was more than a case of overkill. It was a raw exercise of power blatantly done on national television that we suspect was designed to intimidate, cow, browbeat the rest of us into submission.
I could not believe my eyes when I saw Swat men armed with M16s raid the Capitol, smash its glass walls, and force unarmed civilians at gunpoint to lie down. It was a scene straight out of the movie “Black Hawk Down.” There is just no reason in the world to use that kind of a force to implement an order of the DILG chief on an incumbent official whose case would seem to be purely administrative.
The raid was conducted as if the target was a hardened criminal, a drug lord or a terrorist. What scares the shit out of you is the thought that if they could treat an elected government official like this, what can lesser mortals expect from this administration by way of civilized treatment? This was utterly savage and not even minimally civilized. It was a miracle nobody was hurt considering the anger a situation like that could provoke.
Gov. Tupas had applied for a temporary restraining order (TRO) and was waiting for it. Obviously the local DILG knew this and had relayed this to Secretary Ronaldo Puno. Why on earth couldn’t he wait for the result of the TRO application?
This was a major faux pas for which he should take responsibility by tendering his resignation. And if he doesn’t, the President should take responsibility by forcing him to resign for making a travesty of justice and the rule of law. But true to form, instead he justified his action as the right thing to do. He was implementing the law, yes. But he did it in a lawless way. This is not right and a man who thinks otherwise, like Puno seems to, has no business being our DILG secretary.
Fortunately, the Human Rights commissioner condemned the raid and she did not mince her words. I just do not know how independent the Commission is.
I, therefore, do not know what to expect from it by way of a rectification of this violation. I do not know what role the Commission on Human Rights plays in the investigation of all the killings but the TV footage should give it some idea as to who, among others, might be capable of at least some of the killings.
In any case, I hope they get to the bottom of this but I would settle for nothing less than the head of Secretary Puno. This was more than a case of overkill. It was a dictator’s raw exercise of power that has no place in a democracy.
