Aguilar: Tokhang vs due process

THE acquittal of the “drug queen of the south” and her cohorts on the ground of invalid search and seizure is another blow for our justice system. One can easily speculate of a possibility that somehow, somewhere, someone was either paid or intimidated. The reason being is that the arrest was done following the issuance of a search warrant from a judge. Seized from the suspects were at least 200 grams of suspected shabu with an estimated street value of P400,000.

Due process somehow found that the raid was invalid. But how? Beats me. It would even be more acceptable that she gets freed after being tried and found innocent of the charges filed against her. It can also be more believable that evidence was just planted, but to be set free because of an invalid search raises all kinds of questions. Is our justice system really working? Can we rely on it?

This is precisely where President Rodrigo Duterte is coming from in encouraging the police force to do whatever it takes to stop the drug problem on their level. The lack of confidence on our justice system is also perhaps the main reason why the public sentiment seemed in favor of the extrajudicial killings related to drug cases.

In the case where we could not rely on our courts, we make heroes out from the men in uniform who put matters into their hands. But does this really justify extrajudicial killings? Does it justify killing a pusher during a raid? Some would say, these people are loaded with money they can always buy their way out. We have had countless of stories of pushers getting off the hook, they might as well be silenced once and for all. Come to think of it, drugs has destroyed so many lives. Any means of stopping it should be at least tolerated if not desired.

Whichever way one looks at it, killing a drug pusher during a legitimate drug bust is nothing less than murder. There is something fundamentally wrong in killing someone before he or she gets his day in court.

The PNP today enjoys the full support of the president especially in its war on drugs. This explains the sudden rise of “nanlaban” deaths because of the blanket protection given by our very own president. And while all evidence would point that this is a necessary evil, someone still has to cry foul on this form of justice we are tolerating.

In August alone, the number of drug deaths in Misamis Oriental during legitimate raids reached to 2 digits. This month it continues to rise. Let it sink in.

The police need to wake up to the realization that extrajudicial killings are never part of the solution. A wrong action cannot correct another wrong. They are supposed to uphold the law, not put the law into their own hands.

As with our justice system, perhaps our government needs to provide more security to our judges. No judge likes to handle drug cases. A lot of them got killed over those things. They are also not earning much. In fact, they would earn more if they just practice law. Their salaries should significantly be raised therefore and more security measures should be afforded to them. That way, no bribery nor intimidation can ever influence their rulings.

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