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BY JOSIAH JAYZON O. MANGANGOT
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Wednesday, March 1, 2017
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GIVEN the chance, would you change the last line of the Lupang Hinirang from “ang mamatay ng dahil sa’yo” into “ang pumatay ng dahil sa’yo”?
“The ends justify the means.” This aphorism, attributed to Niccolo Machiavelli, is one of the standard principles statesmen who value radical change and development adhere to. This is because they agree with the general interpretation of the phrase that whatever the means are – even if it is against public opinion – as long as in the end it will ‘benefit’ the people, it is okay.
In the Philippines, it is evident that this is the case. The current administration’s stance against drugs and criminality prompted it to wage the currently suspended ‘war on drugs’ that led to the death of thousands of suspected drug personalities who allegedly fought during arrest or have been taken down through extra-judicial killings. However, opinions on whether the war on drugs actually benefited the general populace are varied. Some say it has gone beyond the immediate limitations of the sovereignty of the government while others say the bloody means definitely brought positive change to the society.
Another impending move by the government is the reimposition of the capital punishment. Just like the war on drugs, the death penalty proposition – which was clearly communicated to the public by the now chief executive during the campaign period – was faced with criticisms.
But criticize, I do not. I support the penalty’s reimposition for one reason – for equality.
The capital punishment’s reimposition is justice to those Filipinos who lost their lives in other countries through the death penalty. If we truly value the essence of equality, why don’t we also employ the same mechanism implemented by our neighboring countries in dealing with heinous crimes?
In several foreign countries, if a Filipino is found guilty of drug smuggling, he is hanged. If an alien brings with him a bag full of illegal drugs in the Philippines, well, he is imprisoned. While the Filipino and his relatives suffer the pain of loss, the alien at least enjoys the possibility of release and life itself.
This is unfair. Though it is in the state of affairs in the international arena that a state is given external sovereignty and thus the privilege and mandate to implement laws that could take the life of an alien within its jurisdiction, I find it unjust that the Philippines do not exercise the same in the context of the implementation of capital punishment.
Though a skeptic may argue that equality as used in this argument is very subjective and is unethical to some extent and further claim that the argument itself is fallacious, it will not diminish the fact that while Filipinos are hanged, we, as a polity allow other nationalities to destroy us by allowing them to stay alive with the possibility of them committing the same grave offenses again.
In wars, we kill to defend ourselves. During the Colonization era, we killed to regain ourselves. Today, with the political and social problems we as a nation already have, let us not allow aliens to stab us while we are dealing with our own issues and concerns.
But then again, this is just me. Now chew the cud./PN
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