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Herbie Gomez .

I DOUBT if most Filipinos approve of subjecting people to extrajudicial killings on mere suspicion of involvement in the illicit drug trade, much more if they are merely hooked on drugs and are in need of rehabilitation and professional help.

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Camp Alagar’s spokesperson, Supt. Surki Sereñas, doesn’t want to call the cases “extrajudicial killings.” But I wonder if “serial murders” would be acceptable to him. That’s what the killings really are — cold-blooded serial murders committed by people who are convinced they have the authority to put the law into their own hands as the entire nation saw in the murder of Kian delos Santos. So, it’s really just a matter of semantics.

On Friday, families of drugelated “EJK” or “serial murder” victims from different areas of the Philippines, human rights advocates and leaders of religious, media, academe, lawyers, artists and students’ organizations, officials from the Commission on Human Rights and Congress, among others, gathered in a conference at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Gym. They wanted to bridge efforts in addressing the EJK issue and to register a strong call to uphold life, dignity of all people and justice in the face of the Duterte administration’s so-called “war on drugs.” The activity, concluded with a lantern procession to symbolize the families’ hope for the triumph of light and life against the reigning fear and impunity, was held ahead of the International Human Rights Day today. Such brave people!

Similar activities have been and are being organized throughout the country. Yet we do not see any group of citizens, even people in government, organizing gatherings or fora in support of EJKs. What group or who in his right mind would dare organize a pro-serial murders demonstration?

Even the National Police, officially, is ashamed to call the murders EJKs as shown by how Sereñas tried to duck or sweep the vigilante-style executions under the rug.

The only platform where EJKs are being openly hailed without shame is social media, mostly by people who are crying out for blood and who appeared to have surrendered reason. But even there, in the world of virtual reality, they could not categorically approve of the senseless killing of the young man Kian delos Santos by police officers who clearly put the law into their own hands.

The reason why there is an appearance that most people approve of EJKs is because many of those against it have opted to keep mum due to the environment of fear, bullying and impunity in this country that started in 2016. Let me emphasize that it’s just an appearance of what may not really be the case at all.

Results of the June 2017 Social Weather Stations survey show that 90 percent of Filipinos want drug suspects to be captured alive. Of the 90 percent, 68 percent said this was “very important” while 22 percent felt it was “somewhat important.” SWS said calls to capture illegal drugs suspects alive remained universal in all areas. In Mindanao, it was at 86 percent with 64 percent saying it was “very important” and 22 percent saying it was “somewhat important.”

It is also worth noting that the same SWS survey results show that 73 percent of Filipinos worry that they or someone they know could become victims of EJK. This means, most citizens (at least 73 percent) are convinced that EJKs are taking place, and they fear someone could just pick them up, kill them, and then wrongly label them as drug suspects.

That fear, Supt. Sereñas, is why many citizens are not coming out in the open, raising their voice and speaking up. Many citizens worry that if they did, they’d be falsely accused of having drug links, arrested or, worse, murdered. Emotions and the fundamental right to express have been suppressed in this unhealthy environment. Deep inside, the silent majority’s feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will is building up. That is not good. Pastilan.

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