EDITORIAL

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Killing season

PRESIDENT Duterte’s threat to human rights activists critical of extrajudicial killings amid the government’s antidrug war is deplorable. He should instead address the criticisms being aired rather than threaten to kill human rights activists and blame them for the proliferation of drugs.

Blaming the country’s problems on presidential critics and threatening them with harm is reminiscent of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The President should refrain from issuing menacing statements like this since they place a chilling effect on dissent on legitimate political issues.

In a speech in Malacañang on Monday night, the President said, “Sabi ng human rights (defenders), pinapatay ko raw, sabi ko ‘Sige na, maghinto tayo, paramihin natin.’ Para ‘pag panahon ng harvest time mas marami na tuloy mamatay, isali ko na kayo kasi kayo ang nagpalaki eh.”

What the President said was a clear threat to those who raise concerns about the extrajudicial killings occurring in the course of his antidrug war. What he committed is extremely unbecoming of a President whose influence greatly impacts the lives of millions of Filipinos.

With all his braggadocio, the President appears to have a narrow perspective of the illegal drugs problem.

It is imperative for the government to address the roots of drug trafficking and addiction and their pervasiveness. It should address poverty, which leaves the Filipinos vulnerable to the ills of illegal drugs, and break the conspiracy of the corrupt police and their politician backers while respecting every single person’s human rights.
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