Is EJK OK?

By: Edilberto C. de Jesus - @inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:18 AM November 11, 2017

Two basic elements define extrajudicial killing (EJK), as it is globally understood: 1) the killers are
agents of the state or acting for them; and 2) the killing takes place without benefit of judicial
proceedings.

The Philippine National Police and the Department of Justice insist that no EJK has happened during
the Duterte administration, citing Administrative Order No. 35, issued when EJK apparently targeted
specific groups of victims: political dissidents, cause-oriented activists, investigative journalists.
Even by AO 35 criteria, the killing of Zenaida Luz, Oriental Mindoro anticrime crusader, must
qualify as EJK. Nevertheless, her killers, Sr. Insp. Magdalino Pimentel Jr. and Insp. Markson
Almeranez, allowed to post bail, are now back on the PNP payroll.

But AO 35 was meant to focus government efforts on stopping crimes against the most prominent
EJK targets then, not to exclude other classes of victims. To argue that Kian delos Santos was not an
EJK victim because he was not an activist, journalist, or dissident, insults the common sense of the
public. Even if Kian were only a drug pusher, his execution, while on his knees begging for mercy,
was not justified, as even President Duterte has conceded.
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Denying the reality of EJK simplifies matters for the PNP. To acknowledge even one case of
unlawful EJK opens up the possibility of similar cases in its inventory of “deaths under
investigation.” But the blanket denial of EJK undermines government credibility and is self-
defeating, since not all EJKs are illegal.

Without capital punishment, there is no judicially sanctioned killing. By definition, all killings done
by state agents are extrajudicial, but not all such killings are unlawful. Self-defense against clear and
mortal danger justifies killings committed by law enforcement agents while performing their duties.
But the claim requires proof. Hence, law enforcement agencies themselves must investigate all EJK
cases to determine that these were not summary executions that violated constitutional and human
rights.

The “presumption of regularity,” when deaths result from legitimate police operations, provides a
necessary but not sufficient condition to excuse the killings; these must still undergo investigation.
Despite patient coaching by Sen. Panfilo Lacson in the Senate hearings, PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa
refused to accept this point.

When law enforcement agencies prove unwilling or unable to complete credible investigations, the
Commission on Human Rights must intervene. The CHR has neither the resources nor the mandate
to investigate all cases of violence inflicted on the public. This is the task of law enforcement
agencies and the CHR must focus on their performance.

CHR oversight is important to ensure public trust in the institutions given the resources and the
license to apply lethal force against citizens. The government needs police and military forces to
protect the public. But the key question, especially in democratic states, remains: Who will guard the
guards?

Recent surveys on EJK are troubling because they deliver an ambiguous message. Seventy-three
percent of respondents believe that unlawful EJK is taking place, doubting claims that police were
compelled to kill suspects in self-defense. Sixty-five percent reject the notion of a cash bounty for
drug war kills. Ninety-five percent believe that drug suspects should be apprehended alive. But 88
percent support the Duterte war on drugs. This support and the President’s good approval and trust
ratings lead his spokesperson Harry Roque to speculate that people are OK with the killings.

Do Filipinos really believe there is nothing wrong with summary executions? The question must be
asked, though we may not like what the responses might reveal about the depth of people’s faith
values, the formation of their conscience, and their regard for the moral order and the rule of law.

The question must also be carefully formulated and explained.

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Respondents must understand that the question critically measures their confidence in the police
forces. To tolerate summary executions means to entrust to police officers the authority to decide
whom to spare and whom to kill.

President Duterte has effectively delivered this power to the police, despite his suspicion that 40
percent of the force are complicit in corruption. Is this responsibility a burden police officers want to
embrace? Is this is a right that the public is prepared to yield to them?

Edilberto C. de Jesus (edcdejesus@ gmail.com) is professor emeritus at the Asian Institute of

Management.
Long-term solution to drug
problem
By: Rina Jimenez-David - @inquirerdotnet
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:30 AM August 18, 2017

The “real,” effective and long-term solution to the drug problem is not, believe it or not, EJKs,
“tokhang,” or any newfangled, fancily named police or military operation.

Killing suspected drug dealers and pushers or just plain users produces only dead people, while the
orphans and widow/ers the killings leave behind become prime candidates for a new generation of
addicts.

No, the long-term solution to addiction is behavioral modification through the creation of a
“therapeutic community” combined with clinical interventions to address the user’s dependence on
drugs and other harmful substances and behavior.
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But, as Martin Infante, founder and president of Self Enhancement for Life Foundation (SELF),
would himself admit, the process is time-consuming, complicated and subject to ups and downs as
the drug dependent or patient struggles with deep-seated issues that underlie the addiction. As Infante
once put it: “Relapse is part of recovery.”

A client’s stay at the SELF Center in Talisay, Batangas, ranges from 18 to 22 months, says Infante,
with six months of “after-care” during which the graduate joins a work/study program where he or
she learns or relearns “discipline and structure” in daily life. A graduate of the program must
complete at least one semester in school before being deemed “cured,” adds Infante. And in fact, he
says with some astonishment, SELF has so far produced 10 graduates who’ve made it to the Dean’s
List in different colleges.

Of course, a “good” postgraduate performance doesn’t guarantee lifelong freedom from drugs or
other forms of dependence. In fact, Infante notes, alcoholism is one of the “most difficult” forms of
addiction to address or cure. For one, alcohol is far more available and accessible than illicit drugs.
Another thing to note is that there is little social condemnation of alcoholism, except perhaps by
people most directly affected by it—the alcoholic’s family, work mates and friends.

Still, despite the odds, SELF offers hope to all affected by drugs and other dependencies, including
parents, siblings and children, without resorting to the drastic “final solution” of mass killings.

Indeed, SELF is marking its 25th year in September with a series of activities meant to “share its
wisdom and experience in a holistic approach to their treatment and rehabilitation,” with the theme
“Rekindling Hope and Rebuilding Lives.”

Foremost of these activities is a lecture by Dr. Gregory Bunt, an international expert on addiction
medicine, followed by a panel discussion by international practitioners and experts in the therapeutic
community approach.
To be held on Sept. 14 at the SMX Aura Function Room 1, the lecture panel will be attended by the
families of SELF residents, medical practitioners and students, with slots available for the general
public. On Sept. 15, SELF will organize a roundtable with its Council of TC (therapeutic community)
Elders and their Asian counterparts, to discuss the future of the TC Federation of South Asia.

But the highlight of the 25th anniversary events, especially for SELF alumni and residents as well as
their families, is the fellowship program and show on Sept. 16. It pays tribute to SELF’s 25 years of
being a healing community, highlighted by a show mounted by the SELF family and directed by
longtime collaborator Fritz Ynfante.

Founded in 1992 by Infante, himself a former drug user, SELF is dedicated to helping afflicted
individuals “recover from various addictions and dependencies and to share the experience of the
TC’s success with other groups and individuals in the same mission.”

Indeed, despite its “small scale” approach to rehabilitation, given the time, facilities and personnel
needed to work with residents, the SELF program offers a valuable alternative mode to the prevailing
law enforcement mentality which views the eradication of human beings—users, pushers and
dealers—as the preferred solution.

There is hope for addicts and other dependents. They are human beings, after all, and humanity holds
within its core the promise of recovery, change and transformation.