Don’t lose humanity in solving illegal drugs, crime problems

While illegal drugs and crimes remain pressing matters for the government to solve, we believe that the solution should not cost the nation its humanity.

President Duterte, we implore that you see as cause for concern the violations of human rights that are occurring in our country. In your third State of the Nation Address (Sona), you stated that, “Your concern is human rights, mine is human lives.” Yet, in your fourth and latest Sona last July 22, you contradicted this very claim by requesting that Congress reinstate the death penalty for “heinous crimes,” such as drug-related offenses and plunder. How can one prioritize lives if one deems that criminals, who are also human, are not worthy of life?

The push for the death penalty will allow our government to be responsible for more deaths on top of the lives already lost due to the war on drugs. We ask for empathy toward criminals who, as citizens of this country, also deserve humane and fair treatment. Our government is also known to be corrupt, which we feel will propagate the further persecution of the poor, as they have no means or resources to properly defend themselves in the name of justice.

The current flaws in the system cannot be fleshed out to a greater extent through the death penalty, as there is already enough slanted punishment and accusation. Mr. President, we ask for an alternative solution to this pressing matter.

In a society where a majority are religious citizens, we also ask that the administration reflect the people it governs, and respect the inherent dignity of the human person. Mr. President, we request that your administration practice the simple virtue of respecting life. We hope you feel obligated to recognize human life and respect it, above all notions of guilt or innocence on the part of your citizens.

DENISE BAILON, GABRIELLE DEL MONTE, FRANCESCA PINO, IZZY SANDOVAL, ANNE DINDOY, c/o [email protected]