It is necessary to have the Extra Judicial Killing in Philippines?

Extra judicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution) is the killing of a person by
governmental authorities without the sanction of any judicial proceeding or legal process. Extrajudicial
punishments are mostly seen by humanity to be unethical, since they bypass the due process of the legal
jurisdiction in which they occur. It comes in many forms like the Death flights which is a form of
extrajudicial killing practiced by military forces in possession of aircraft: victims are dropped to their
death from airplanes or helicopters into oceans, large rivers or even mountains. The death squad is an
armed group that conducts extrajudicial killings or forced disappearances of persons for the purposes of
political repression, genocide, or revolutionary terror. The environmental killings are murders or
assassinations linked to environmental issues such as illegal logging, mining, land grabbing, and
pollution. Victims have included not only environmental and land rights activists, but also members of
indigenous communities and journalists who have reported on these issues. Forced disappearance or
enforced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political
organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political
organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate and whereabouts, with the intent of
placing the victim outside the protection of the law. Lynching is a premeditated extrajudicial killing by a
group .This is to put to death, especially by hanging, by mob action and without legal authority. Social
cleansing is class-based killing that consists of elimination of members of society considered
"undesirable," including but not limited to the homeless, criminals, street children, the elderly, sex
workers, and sexual minorities. A summary execution is an execution in which a person is accused of a
crime and immediately killed without benefit of a full and fair trial. Targeted killings are premeditated
acts of lethal force employed by states in times of peace or during armed conflict to eliminate specific
individuals outside their custody. In the Philippines’ drug war, it's likely extra judicial killing when events
surrounding a number of drug-related deaths in the Philippines are almost always the same as all incidents
The extra judicial killing in the Philippines is leaving hundreds dead in the streets ,there are pros and cons
of this and of course there many reasons in each side. It is necessary to have the Extra Judicial Killing in
Philippines?

But in my opinion, I am not in favor of Extra Judicial killing because I believe that this is not the
best way to lessen those people using drugs and extra judicial killing is unjust and unrighteous. Extra
judicial killing violates a person’s right to live. I mean, you’re not given a chance to defend yourself, to
be free and start a new life, all that are permanently isolate from you once you get a shot in the back
either because you’re suspected of being involved in drugs or on the “watch list” or actually involved but
still wasn’t able to undergo due process as one of our rights according to the Constitution which is the
article 3 Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution, otherwise known as the bill of rights, “No person shall be
deprived of life, liberty, or property…” Imposing the EJK would violate the said bill. Extrajudicial
killings takes away the people's right of living. Even though you are not a law student, you will know that
extrajudicial killings are against the human rights. These rights allow us to live. Extrajudicial killings
might cause the loss of lives of those who are worthy to live. It does not give us the opportunity to speak
and defend ourselves. This means that we can die anytime without even getting the chance to clarify
things. After that what happens? Do the drug addicts and drug lords stop? You can see that they don't.
Watching the news everyday makes me tired. It only shows all of the killings made because if the war
against illegal drugs. Yes, they are right. Illegal drugs and transactions shall stop but should it be done in
a harsh way? Why can't we do it peacefully without ending anyone's life because at the end, we still need
each other to progress and to develop.

According to some survey Filipinos fear extrajudicial killings, but approve of drugs war.
The MANILA (Reuters) said that eight out of ten Filipinos worry they or someone they know might
become a victim of extrajudicial killings, an opinion poll published on Monday found, although a
majority also gave President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war an “excellent” rating. According to Julius
Dabon, former Researcher, the reason why most Filipinos agree with EJK is that, it is the smartest, yet
most effective way to clean the completely corroded, drug-infested society. It makes the law abiding
citizens or the majority of the Filipinos live in peace, security and freedom they deserved that the past
administrations failed to give. Meaning, they believe that EJK is the Fast and probably efficient way to
eliminate these illegal drugs and eradicate matrices of syndicates that produce, buy, and sell said harmful
substances. They also believe that this is an effective alternative to the lacking number of prisons and
rehabilitation areas in the country, considering a lot of factors causing it to unwanted consequences such
as government officials that misappropriate funds leading to discontinued building projects leading to
populated prisons and rehab centers. According to them respects the majority lot of right to life. Meaning
this EJK will result in no more illegal drugs that will result in no more possible normalization of
consuming said substances that will result in less people harmed that will result in productive society and
will end in maximization of quality of life. And also they believe that people will not try to take illegal
drugs anymore because of the fear, the fear of losing their lives.

I am not in favor in extra judicial killing because it’s against to God. Romans 13:8-10 “Owe no
one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the
commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not
covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” Killing is a sin in
the eyes of God’s law. It is an unacceptable action, heinous in nature, brutal and immoral. Life is so
precious to the Creator, hence, God also condemns killing. And even how sinful a human is, no matter
how big a sin he commits in the law, killing is unlawful. It is true that sometimes, these kind of killings
eliminate a number of known criminals, but is good to remember that “the end SHOULD NOT justify the
means”. We should also put in mind that the Philippines is predominantly Catholic and killing a person,
whether guilty or not, is against the law of God. As the CBCP (Catholic Bishops Conference of the
Philippines) once said, “It is good to remove the drug problem, but to kill in order to achieve this is also
wrong”. Another issue raised by the CBCP is the conscience of the people executing the death penalty.
According to an interview with an executioner, what once was a conscience-wrecking act became a
normal routine in his life and damages the morals of the people assigned to execute the inmates.

Victims who are accused as guilty for being involved in the illegal drugs or other crimes are being
killed with not enough evidence to be proven that they are guilty. Killing of persons who are involved in
this illegal drugs can be considered as EJK, but some are not. We don't know exactly what is what and
which is which. It might be just a gang or persons killing each other to hide themselves that they are
connected to drugs related crime of the country. Because of this,the government, including the President
are criticized by some individuals that they are behind this EJK, which is quite unfair. I do believe that
they are just doing their jobs including the Police Officers in order to protect and maintain the safety here
in our country and Let us look at the brighter part of what EJK creates. The crime rate in our country
dramatically decreases since the reign of Duterte administration.. A portion of the general population that
work during the evening. We all want to live in a safe society. We want to able to raise the children in a
safer world. I commend the president on his mission to stamp our crime, drugs and violence in the
Philippines. On the note, we are all aligned in wanting a better country.

REFERENCE
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrajudicial_killing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Extrajudicial_killings_by_type
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-duterte-poll-idUSKBN1480HB
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/868335/cbcp-illegal-drugs-summary-killing-are-both-wrong
http://www.interaksyon.com/73-of-pinoys-fear-falling-to-ejks-as-satisfaction-with-war-on-drugs-slides/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_of_rights
http://www.debate.org/opinions/do-you-agree-that-extrajudicial-killings-is-illegal-and-a-breach-of-
fundamental-rights-and-freedoms

Submitted by: Kristine Mae Alipala

Submitted to: Mrs. Delos Santos
Grade 11 – St. Isidore