Silence of the lambs the new normal?

I woke up to the sight of the front page of the Inquirer’s Jan. 10 issue with the banner headline, “Mayors into drugs will be killed—Du30.” This really jolted my senses.

Is state-sanctioned killing, ordered by the president of our republic, our new  normal?  This is breaking down fundamentals of our social order. This is quite simply very barbaric. I applaud the Inquirer columnists and commentators who express their opposition to this new normal.

Even more disconcerting is the deafening silence of our past leaders or those who aspire or aspired to be our leaders.

This new norm has drawn condemnation in our country and in international arenas. Sadly, our recent past president and losing presidential candidates haven’t uttered a word of concern about or condemned the extrajudicial killings we see around us. Which proves that they simply do not care about the Filipino people, that their only concern is their personal comfort, and that they are never willing to put their lives on the line.

Maybe I am asking too much, but isn’t that at least a requirement if one wants to be a leader of a nation?

JOSE SANTAMARIA, j_e_santamaria@hotmail.com