Columban Fr John Keenan has seen first-hand the cost of the crackdown on drugs in the Philippines. Here he appeals for a more humane way of dealing with this menace.
The war on drugs initiated by President Rodrigo Duterte on July 1, 2016 has made headlines around the world. The fifth commandment, 'Thou shall not kill' is totally ignored. Most of the extra judicial killings take place among the poor. Even women are killed as well as children who are caught in cross-fire.
I celebrate Mass in a shanty-town each Sunday morning. After our Mass last Sunday, I was invited to bless a house. Filipinos will not sleep in a house where a murder has taken place until it is blessed. We proceeded along the narrow pathways in the shanty town. Towards the end I was led through a narrow passage way leading to very narrow stairs which made it difficult for me to climb up to the small room.
The couple living there told me that their brother had been shot dead. He slept on plywood in a corner of the shack. A policeman had made his way up the narrow stairs and shot him at close range. Such incidents are all too common especially in the poor areas in the ongoing war against drugs.
Since the new Government took over in July 2016, as of March 2017 over 7,500 people have been summarily executed. They are suspected drug addicts and are denied due process which they have a right to. I was asked to bless another house where the man of the house was similarly shot dead as he slept. It was a two storey rickety shack. Afterwards the woman living downstairs asked me to bless her room. She pointed out to me the ceiling boards where the victim blood trickled down. His wife showed me their small baby. The wake of the executed man was held on the street since the shack was too small for the coffin.
Another woman talked about how her husband was shot in front of the children. He pleaded to be allowed to kiss his children goodbye. This was denied. He was taken outside and summarily executed. To add insult to injury the poor people have to raise funds to bury their murdered loved ones. The killing goes on without mercy.
The appeals of human rights groups to the 'International Criminal Court', to end the summary executions are ignored. The aim is to kill 100,000 addicts!
The root cause of drug addiction is poverty. Many children cannot go to school so they grow up illiterate. They can find no employment so become involved in the drug trade in order to survive.
Some live on the streets, others in one roomed shacks in inhumane conditions. Some sniff glue and solvent. Some snort, smoke or inject shabu, the local name for 'ice - crystal meth', to assuage the pangs of hunger as there is no concrete program to address the problems of unemployment, inadequate housing and poverty.
The human cost of the war on drugs is enormous. Families are devastated. Communities infiltrated by spies and informers. Many young women become widows and children orphans. Even women are killed either by police or vigilante groups. One woman was hired by her husband to become a killer. Not being a suspected killer she can move in and kill at close range. She has already killed six persons. She regrets what she has done as she herself has children. If she quits the bloody job she fears that she too will be killed.
In theory suspected drug users are given the choice of surrendering or being shot. Often those who surrender are shot dead. If not, they are imprisoned in inhumane over-crowded jails in terrible conditions. They are supposed to go to rehabilitation centres which are few and far between. There is a serious shortage of doctors, nurses and trained counsellors to help addicts to recover. They are sick people in need of healing from their addictions, not criminals to be shot at sight.
Local churches are being asked to help in the rehabilitation process but are unprepared for the huge numbers.
The killing must stop and the victims of drug addiction must be given a chance to recover and rebuild their lives. That is their basic human right. Unless the Government changes its policy, the killing will continue and we’ll have many more destitute widows and orphans. There must be another way to deal with the drug menace. Hope springs eternal. The people deserve better.
Columban Fr John Keenan has worked in the Philippines for many decades.
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