Any killing of a human being is to be deplored, even those we used to have under state auspices. When the killing is done by a police officer in a blatant display of superior power and the victims are a helpless mother and son embracing each other in their hopelessness, it challenges human belief that this could happen in our country with its Christian respect for human life and its legal tradition of justice.
The incident in Paniqui, Tarlac, last December 20 was caught on video by a bystander, a 16-year-old girl with her smart phone. And it went viral on social media. Without any accompanying comment, it was a condemning visual record, so that President Duterte himself was moved to say the accused police officer should be fed the COVID-19 virus.
The incident has caused some congressmen to push for the revival of the death penalty. A bill to reinstate capital punishment in the Philippine legal system was passed by the House of Representatives in the 17th Congress, and its proponents hope it will now be finally approved in the current 18th Congress.
The death penalty, however, is firmly opposed by many officials who blame instead the “culture of violence” in the country today, resulting from “defects in our judicial and legal processes.” “Capital punishment would not address police brutality and extrajudicial killings which are the real problems,” said one party-list congressmen.
The Tarlac killing has also renewed calls for the Philippine National Police to look into the thinking of some of its officers and men as reflected in a post made by a Catanduanes police chief: “… Matuto tayong rumispeto sa ating mga kapulisan….”
And finally, there is the human element in all this that must not be ignored. The family of the mother and son needs protection and care. So too does the daughter of the accused policeman who saw her father right in front of her eyes shoot two helpless human beings with his government pistol. She will need special attention and help.
All this happened in this Christmas season of joy and love, which makes it all the more difficult to understand. We hope it does not represent a change in the way our people deal with one another and in their basic respect for life and for the eternal values of good vs evil.