Nicholas Kaufman, the lawyer representing former President Rodrigo Duterte, has argued in the confirmation of charges hearing, that there is no causal link between the rhetorical bombast of the former president on the one hand and the actual killing on the other.
My reaction brings me to the infamous case involving Sgt. Jonel Nuezca who shot to death, at close range, 52-year-old Sonya Gregoria and her 25-year-old son Frank Anthony in December of 2020. What triggered the shooting was simply a neighbourhood altercation arising from the lighting of prohibited firecrackers. In this age of instant videos from cell phones, the altercation and the brutal killings were recorded and went viral. The tragedy shocked the whole nation. Even President Duterte had to issue a statement that the incident was isolated, involving a mentally deranged policeman.
But was it really isolated? This is one question raised by prize-winning journalist Patricia Evangelista in her book, Some People Need Killing. The case of the death of the mother and son shocked the country only because the altercation and the killing were brought to our cell phones as video clips. But how many of those deaths of alleged drug users were done in the same brutal fashion, the only difference was that there were no video recordings and all we have our police incident reports saying that the victims were nanlaban?
Duterte himself did not order the killing. This was not even a case of alleged drug use. But why is this case included in the book by Pat Evangelista?
Simply put, a culture of violence and impunity has already been created and Duterte need not order the killing of each of the thousands of victims. It is not that there is no case of killing upon direct orders of Duterte. This is the allegation of Edgar Matobato and Arturo Lascanas. The only ones who could say that they were ordered to kill were former members of the so-called Davao Death Squad. But Kaufman also attempts to discredit them precisely because of their past. In effect, the lawyer’s approach is to say that there is no cause and effect relationship while discrediting the witnesses who may be able to establish such causal link.
But I want to go beyond the issue of the strict causal relationship. The point I am driving at is that direct orders are one thing, the creation of a culture of violence is another. That culture of violence, even outside the case of the deaths of drug users, is evident even in the case of the deaths of the mother and son.
The former president, being a lawyer, may qualify his braggadocio with words like, “as long as the law is followed.” But previous words like, “Hitler massacred three million Jews. There are three million drug addicts. I will be happy to kill them all.” “If you know of any addict, go ahead and kill them yourself as getting parents to do it would be too painful.” The same is true of the statement to dump drug users into Manila Bay to fatten the fish.
Later qualifications will be issued to make it appear that everything is legal. But a culture of violence and impunity has already emerged.
Yes, words can create a culture. Duterte cannot and should not escape from the responsibility of giving birth to a cultural milieu within the ranks of the police force. To cite examples, a university president who always demands research outposts from teachers would create a culture of research. A CEO (chief executive officer) who keeps on harping on social responsibility will make this value a standard norm. A male teacher who is uncouth in his speech with female students would create a culture of disrespect to women. The same is true when a president would always be mouthing invectives.
Duterte knew of the power his words carry. In fact, his words would reveal what was in his heart. An old Latin saying goes, “Ex abundantia cordis, os loquitor.” Translation: Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.