AFTER hemming and hawing to run – and then not run – this time it’s the real deal, it seems. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo “Digong” Roa Duterte has declared his intention to run for president of the republic.
Duterte promises that Filipinos will become God-fearing and law-abiding.
Except that he’s ready to kill suspected criminals. He assured Filipino citizens that if elected, he’s ready to become the police, prosecutor, judge, and executioner. He himself, so he says, will do the killing.
That’s God-fearing and law abiding?? Last I checked the Exodus 20-13 of the Holy Bible; it still says “Thou shalt not kill.” Of course, the Old Testament has several violent passages such as Leviticus, Chapter 26, 7-9. But then it also has Matthew 22:39 enjoining us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
Law abiding? As in, Republic Act No. 9346 which abolished the death penalty. And it will be the courts – not the mayors, legislators, or the president – who will impose penalties on convicted felons.
What law is Duterte talking about? Law of the jungle defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “the code of survival in jungle life, now usually with reference to the superiority of brute force or self-interest in the struggle for survival.” It is also known as jungle law or frontier justice.
Or vigilante justice. In modern lingo, extra-judicial killing (EJK).
This is supposed to improve our society where Gunfights in the OK Corral will supersede the rule of law. And ordinary folks like you and me are supposed to applaud this set-up.
Davao City is crime-free because of EJKs? Guess again. Canadians John Ridsdel and Robert Hall, Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad, and Filipina Marites Flor would vehemently disagree. They have been kidnapped in Davao City by armed men.
One of the suspected kidnappers has a standing warrant of arrest for kidnapping, murder, and illegal possession of firearms from the Nagundura Regional Trial Court.
So are we supposed to be impressed that by violating the law, Duterte will uphold the majesty of the law? That would be oxymoronic. Or just simply moronic.
(bqsanc@yahoo.com)