A License to Kill

One hand points the gun, another hand shoots. Who’s the killer?

Rodrigo Duterte and his Davao band faced a Senate panel last Monday, October 28, to personally answer questions on the bloody war on drugs. Indignant and arrogant, he foul-mouthed committee members and responded to inquiries with innuendos. Bato Dela Rosa and Bong Go sounded like circus runners as they tried to stray away from the heated discussions on drug war cases. In between, they get applause for pointless cover-up soundbytes.

Back in 2016, the drug war platform catapulted the then-Davao mayor to office as he promised that “change is coming”. It secured him landslide victory over opponents from old names, featured as a strongman with sheer political will against stubborn old politics.

At the height of the hearing, the terms “neutralize” and “negate” became the center of discussion. Dela Rosa and other top cops scrambled to defend the go signals of their kill operations. “Kung ang purpose nyan is to kill, bakit hindi na lang ilagay sa memorandum circular to kill everyone? Kill, kill, kill. Bakit neutralize pa ang ilalagay natin?”, he fumed as human rights lawyer Chel Diokno disputed his claims and asked him to google it.

But what commenced days after Digong won the May 2016 elections rang differently. On the premise of public safety, Oplan Tokhang became a rabid shoot-to-kill project. “Nanlaban” reports filled the newsprints and flooded the broadcasts, even until his presidency ended. The “neutralization” order, formalized by Oplan Double Barrel, licensed cops to kill anyone in sight, suspects or innocents nonetheless.

A year after he stepped down, in 2023, human rights groups recorded 12,000 to 30, 000 deaths within Duterte’s term, which the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigated at the face of an uncooperative and politically sordid Marcos Jr administration. Moreso, the present government also denied the ICC and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) access to critical drug war documents, as they cited Executive Order 2, and kept them in the dark as families of victims cried for help and justice.

Duterte’s ruthlessness, compounded by Marcos Jr’s indifference, must signal a greater pushback against these colluding forces as they evade accountability. What must be neutralized instead, with our collective action, is the root of all these evils and the culture of impunity and violence it had permeated.

Duterte’s bad mouthing, Dela Rosa’s drama antics, and Bong Go’s innocence can never cover up the monstrosity of greed and cold-bloodedness they have perpetrated for years. They must face the guns that their hands shot, by all means, against thousands of lives lost at the expense of a false sense of security and change.

Marcos Jr, meanwhile, must unconditionally allow the ICC to rake up the past administration’s sins that they both have buried under six feet of lies and legal technicalities. He must also be held accountable for the continuity of the war on drugs veiled with a “humane” and “bloodless” approach.

In this crucial turn of events, we must redirect the tides to our favor. All cards must be on deck to amplify the stories of hope that the families of the victims held for so long. At all costs, we must push hard all accountable to the wall and revoke their licenses to kill, in the interest of genuine justice. Only then we could give each other applause — a standing ovation, perhaps.

✍️: John Ray Luciano
🎨: Mark Vincent Durano