We are deeply saddened. Actually, not only saddened but enraged. A young life was taken away by this so-called war that devolved into what is to be considered as a form of internal cleansing.
Until such time that on the night of August 18, a grade 11 student was dragged bythe policemen, gagged, forced to take a gun, ordered to run, then shot falling in one dark corner. Not content, policemen planted drugs to exhibit the legitimacy of their operation. Returning to their office, they filed a spot report indicating that the student was a drug runner, took out a gun and in the immortal words of so many police spot reports, “nanlaban sila (they fought back)”.
What is more depressing and frustrating is that some people regarded the incident in many ways: “an isolated incident”, “legitimate operation”, “what was he doing outside?”, “collateral damage”. What is even more unnerving are comments on how this incident rated in comparison with the rape, murder, and deaths of other innocent lives.
As a historian, the incident can be framed within the utter disapprovement and eventual disavowal of an indifferent justice system.
But as a human person, it puts into question our values concerning human life. How many Kians do we need to see killed before we acknowledge that this is all madness? How many liters of blood do you want to see flow just to understand that a single drop of it is as sacred as your desire to live?
Until then, we will witness more of these incidents. And to those who still think that this war justifies the deaths of these men, women, and children, I pray that your family and loved ones do not become a “collateral damage.”
