ANYTHING known to be too much in excess could end up doing more harm than good.
And we are starting to believe that this is what is happening to the efforts of some human rights advocates and those who are strongly highlighting the harm done to society by the controversial war on drugs of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
Yes, we have this notion that the “crusaders” are overdoing efforts to highlight the alleged crimes against humanity that the former President is facing at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Imagine, they established a so-called memorial site for victims of the so-called Extra Judicial Killings (EJKs) in a portion of the La Loma Catholic Cemetery in Caloocan City! The “crusaders” transferred two remains of alleged EJK victims from their original burial grounds in Manila’s North and South Cemeteries to the Dambana ng Paghilom. The two are in addition to the 116 remains already interred in the first memorial site for EJK victims.
However, our view is that in creating the memorial those behind it are putting a lot of elements for drama. One glaring thing is that the memorial is called “Dambana ng Paghilom,” or healing. What are these people eyeing to be “healed” with the memorial when clearly the name of the shrine is contradicting its supposed intention?
They want to heal the hurt and temper the hatred the war on drugs has created among Filipinos? How can such healing be achieved when the memorial only perpetuates animosity of the relatives of victims against the suspected perpetrators?
Why would these “crusaders” not focus their efforts in strengthening the case against the former President now awaiting trial at the ICC?
If the former President is convicted by the ICC, we are certain that they will not be bothered even a bit by their conscience. After all such conviction – or maybe exoneration – was attained in the most legal of processes.
And possibly, the “Dambana ng Paghilom” may stand as a reminder that in the succeeding governments, EJKs should not be given a chance to come back. “Never again,” they say.
But will it succeed in healing? Reminds us of the EDSA Shrine.
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Vice President Sara Duterte, in her message during the Chinese New Year celebration, called on Filipinos to embrace courage, unity, and growth.
What nice words to hear. So pleasing to the ears. But can the VP’s admonition attain its purpose of unity for the Filipinos?
We have our doubts. Why? Because, for now, the Vice President is the acknowledged leader in fighting the President who was once her partner when the new administration first forayed into attaining the “Bagong Pilipinas” using their campaign slogan UniTeam.
And with the two at odds, how else will their loyal followers and favor-seekers behave but join in the fray.
So, the advocated unity is clearly nebulous. So is the dream of growth. Courage? Yes, their fanatic followers have all the courage to fight for and on behalf of their patrons. And surely, VP Sara has a huge number of them.
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A German national has made another use for the bible. He carved a space on the inside of the Holy Book and, using duct tape, concealed P55.3 million worth of shabu.
Unfortunately for him, his religiosity did not match his illegally-inclined mind. When the German national arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila Customs, authorities were suspicious of the significant number of bibles among his cargoes. So, these were inspected.
Lo and behold! The addictive drugs were inside the bibles wrapped in plastic. We can only hope that the drug merchants will not further innovate in their means of bringing in drugs to the country by converting the same into host form. That will definitely be sacrilegious.
