THE past few days can be described as bloody. Three inmates were killed while on board a Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) van. A barangay official in Talisay City was gunned down by two unidentified men while driving his car along the Cebu South Coastal Road. A water vendor was ambushed in Barangay Perrelos, Carcar. Six suspected drug personalities were killed in a shootout with law enforcers. An alleged hitman was killed in a shootout inside a police office in Danao City. These all happened in Cebu. What if we accounted for other killings in other parts of the Philippines?
Who is safe in this age and time? No one. When a public official (Tanauan City Mayor Antonio Halili) is shot in broad daylight during a flag-raising ceremony and priests are brazenly killed, one can ask whether or not there is a breakdown in law and order in the Philippines.
Contract killing seems to have become a business, as hired guns take the lives of targets like they were hunting animals in jungles. At times, the killers are arrested, but most often the masterminds remain anonymous and free. The worst part is that some of these hired killers are former law enforcers, if they are not still active in the service.
Criminality is a cancer in society. It can never be eradicated. But civil society has put in place a justice system to protect citizens from criminals and to make communities safe. The five components of the justice system are law enforcement, prosecution, defense attorneys, courts, and corrections. When any of these components fail, then people lose trust in the entire system.
When we hear of corrupt policemen and of law enforcers getting involved with criminal syndicates, do we feel confident in reporting crime to the police? When we find the prosecution, the defense attorneys or the judges conniving with criminals to destroy justice, do we still believe in fairness and truth? When prisoners continue to commit crime while still incarcerated, do we not question the declaration that justice is served?
Surely there are more good cops than bad, as there are more ethical lawyers and judges than amoral ones. There must be more incorruptible prison officials than there are crooked officials. But the contamination of the evil in the justice system has contributed to the dwindling public trust.
It may be said that the malady affects not just the Philippines but other countries as well. Yet, it is more pronounced in the Philippines as the war on drugs rages on with the encouragement of the president. And many seem to have surrendered to the notion of swift justice through extrajudicial means.
When lawyers are arming themselves and government officials seek more security details, then it is safe to conclude that the justice system must be failing. We are in no better state than the wild, wild West of old. And the bloodbath will continue.