The devil wears tokhang: widows and orphans demand justice
DIABOLOS. Satan. Beelzebub. We call him by different names and he is unaffected and never finds it wrong to kill. The ”war on drugs” has killed thousands of poor people, at least more than 6,000 as documented by police in their operation reports and likely more than 30,000 overall. The murderous project, tagged ”kill, kill, kill,” left thousands of orphans and widows.
In April 2017, former president Rodrigo Duterte was overheard telling an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport: “Pag wala kayong trabaho bigyan ko kayo… patayin ninyo lahat ng addict.”
“Tulungan mo akong patayin ang mga addict,” he told another OFW. “Magpatay kayo ng addict araw araw.”
His scorn of the poor seemed endless and his distance from Christian practice evident, as the former president admitted, “Kaya ako hindi nagsisimba. Kasi ’pag magsimba ako, ‘Forgive me, father, for I have killed last night three.‘ Balik na naman ako kinabukasan, ‘Father, forgive me because I have killed 10 drug lords.’ Pabalik-balik ako, bakit pa ako magpunta doon? Useless.”
I have collected many quotes of Duterte on his ”tokhang” project. They don’t just make your stomach churn, but challenge your imagination with prayers, so that nightmares will not visit you. I appreciate deeply that the ongoing Congress hearings on extrajudicial killings have opened up a window to affirm the correctness of making Duterte accountable for his war on drugs’ EJKs.
Reflecting on the senselessness of such inhumanity, my heart turns to the strength of mothers and children who still hope and astutely articulate their demand for justice. As a human rights defender working with families affected by war on drugs’ EJKs through Rise Up for Rights and Life, I have written down some of their stories so that we will not forget.
Nanay Emily, whose 15-year-old son was killed along with friends, prompted her to gather her neighbors whose loved ones were also killed toward a common action to seek justice.
Another mother, Nanay Puring, said, “I wish we could forget. But we promise not to forget, so we will continue to demand for justice.” Unlike privileged families who have means to leave a place of trauma and start life anew in another, Nanay Puring and her family continue in the very location where the murder happened.
Nanay Estrella finds her strength in victims who gather for reflection and study together. “I have to speak up so that past abuses will not happen again. I know it is dangerous, as I fear that the police may come back and intimidate me. But I have to be strong.” She is already in her 70s.
When the judge in Caloocan rendered a guilty verdict for two counts of homicide against four policemen for the killing of Luis and Gabriel Bonifacio, Nanay Estrella was waiting in quiet vigil with other mothers outside the courthouse. Nanay Estrella tightly embraced Nanay Mary Ann, mother of Gabriel and wife of Luis, as she exited the courtroom. Tears of common hope in a struggle for justice flowed among them.
Jane did not like to talk about it, but eventually she spoke about her journey. “For more than a year, a stabbing pain was inside me. My husband’s promise of coming for dinner will never be fulfilled… because just as he was about to come home, he was shot dead,” she said. Jane rose from pain and mourning to become a leader and articulator of the demand for justice. She is among the leaders who helps in the documentation and in accompanying fellow victims to government agencies in efforts to access the services they need.
I commend the quad committee of the House of Representatives. I hope that they will not fail the widows, orphans and communities longing for justice. The mothers and kin want justice. They seek accountability.
