A safer Philippines

A safer Philippines

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MADRID, SPAIN– Much has been said about the war on drugs in the country as well as the reactions internally and from the international community.

While many of us have strong opinions on the matter, from both sides, it is high time we meet without the preemptive suspicion, distrust and political colors.

We are not (or should not) be on opposing sides as a country on the drug issue. We should agree that drugs are destroying Filipino lives. That its spread should be stopped and people held accountable (and not just those at the bottom of the pyramid).

But we should also agree that we do this with utmost care so there will be no collateral damage and no mistakes. No innocent lives lost.

We should ensure that the law is supreme and legal protective measures are working. We should remind our men and women in uniform to protect themselves but also to exercise the proper procedures in search and arrests.

We should strengthen our courts. We should remember that the police’s core function is enforcing the law, keeping the peace and protecting life.

The courts’ role is to decide on guilt or innocence and, in the case of conviction, decide on punishment. The Commission on Human Right’s role is to make sure that public officers and authorities do not abuse their powers and violate people’s rights.

We have to get to the source of drugs and address it from both the supply and demand side. We should get the community involved and encourage citizens to be vigilant. We should recognize the root causes of this menace such as poverty. We should also be open to reconciliation, to rehabilitation, to healing. Because even a former drug user became a celebrated Athlete and a Senator.

One of the projects of the European Union with a delegated cooperation agreement with Spain is GOJUST (Governance in Justice) program which aims to develop a long-term reform strategy and sector-wide coordination and streamlining of case management system and decongestion of courts and prosecution offices, improvement of administrative and financial management system and promotion of accountability and combating impunity in human rights violations. I’ve been a part of this project the past few years with a focus on providing support to the ARMM. The agencies benefiting from this support are the Supreme Court, Department of Justice, DILG and other members of the Justice Sector Coordinating Council together with the CHR and RHRC including civil society.

If the goal of the current administration is on justice and peace and order, then this complements that objective. Even the war on drugs can benefit from the institutional strengthening of the justice system including the police. The conditions on development cooperation/technical assistance (I try to always not label this as aid) based on the tenets of human rights is not an anti-thesis to a government who wishes to ensure the rule of law prevails. Because what is the alternative? We wouldn’t want to reduce lives as collateral damage and be governed by lawless vigilante justice.

The legal and judicial systems are in place to help the President. Assistance from our neighbors and long term partners carry conditions, yes, in the same way that when we take a loan we follow conditions. In fact, I would like to put conditions on my tax payments to ensure it goes to government services and not to corrupt politicians’ pockets. We live in an interconnected and interdependent world. While we stand on our sovereignty, we should be gracious about support from our neighbors and friends. We can be tough without being callous. We can be firm without being violent. We can succeed without spilling blood.

My Father is a Judge and handles a drug court. He recognizes how the President’s ‘hard-on-drugs’ stance has had its positive results. I am a humanitarian and development strategist and I see how this campaign has had its serious lapses and it has impacted especially the poor. I don’t see us on opposing sides. In our conversations, I admit there are things we are not able to see from our own perspectives and this is why we take time to sit at the table even when we sometimes disagree. But, our bottom lines are the same: a safer, drug-free Philippines for everyone – where laws are followed and democracy works. And this is what matters.

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Author’s email: [email protected]

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