Social Media — it is a place where people share their thoughts, post about their lives and it’s used as a medium for communication. Although its aim is to promote positivity it has become a toxic place, full of internet trolls, that has unfortunately became one of the causes of 17-year-old Kian Delos Santos’s death.
Last week, citizens of the Philippines were shaken by news about the latest death in the “war on drugs” saga under the reign of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte.
His death has caused a public outrage and sparked countless protests against this war that apparently targets not just the supposed drug lords and drug addicts but even innocent lives aren’t spared. It is merciless and inhumane. Honestly, it is more of a war against the poor since Makati PNP admitted last year that they’re not doing the same anti-drug operations in upscale communities. When the president’s son, Paolo Duterte, and the customs commissioner, Nicanor Faeldon, were linked to a drug smuggling operation and corruption case, they were properly investigated and they underwent due process; but I guess the situation just proves that if you’re not a powerful or rich person then you won’t get the same rights as they did.
Where’s the justice and equality in that? Do drug addicts exist only among the poor sectors? Why do the privileged get special treatment? Are the poor undeserving of rightful due process? The police aren’t even doing their jobs properly. Instead of protecting us, they are the ones who cause these unlawful deaths. Yes they are dealing with “supposed” criminals and these people have to face the law once proven guilty, but why aren’t they giving them that chance? Why are they taking that away from them?
These extrajudicial killings have got to stop and the police should be protecting us, not the ones causing us harm.
Kian Loyd Delos Santos Case Update
Just recently, the police have admitted that their only intel regarding Kian’s drug involvement was social media.
“SOCIAL MEDIA” – In a time when the country’s intelligence fund is at an all-time high, these policemen got their information from social media.
What’s worse is that they just got their intel after they’ve killed the teenager which means that when they killed him, they weren’t even sure if he’s involved with drugs. This is scary because it means that any one of us could get killed since it is now easy to post fake news or information about people on social media.
Take Mocha Uson for example; she is currently labeled as a “promoter of fake news” on social media sites such as twitter even though she has a position in the government office as the assistant secretary of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO). This is because she constantly posts un-researched information and news on her blog and column then after getting a negative response, she would just refer to them as “metaphors” or “symbolisms”.
Going back to the case, someone might have pretended to be him or pretended to know something about him that’s connected to drugs but then again, we’ll never know. However, the problem here isn’t really whether Kian was a drug addict. The real problem is the irresponsibility of the policemen involved when it came to getting correct information and the injustice that comes with these extrajudicial killings.
Yes, these are criminals or at least “supposed” ones but these policemen aren’t sure with any of those information yet and according to the law, everyone deserves to get proper due process before being proclaimed guilty. So why are these extrajudicial killings happening? Where is the justice in that? Some might come at me and tell me about the innocent people that have been killed by these criminals, specifically drug addicts, and I am here to tell you that I am not condoning the crimes that they have committed but let’s get this straight – These criminals, once proven guilty have to face the law and the consequences of the decisions they have made;
These policemen have the responsibility and are expected to provide protection to the general public. It is part of their job to assure the people of their safety and to work for the common good. Now I’ll ask you, in this situation did they comply to those responsibilities that come with their job? I think not.
The case regarding Kian’s death is still on-going but I still have hope that in the end, justice shall prevail. #NoToEJK
Featured Image courtesy of Patricia Ramos
