Understanding the rule of law (Updated)

CHEERS TO Rappler.com’s Patricia Evangelista for challenging the truth of a claim in Ramon Tulfo’s May 24 column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer and for providing the much needed context on extrajudicial killings in Southern Philippines. (“Thought Leaders: Gunslinging messiahs”, May 28)

On May 21, the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a 71-page report on the “death squad” in Tagum City which implicated local government officials and police officers in extrajudicial killings. (“One Shot to the Head: Death Squad Killings in Tagum City, Philippines”)

Tulfo wrote “But if Uy (the former mayor of Tagum) was indeed responsible for the killings of bad elements in the city during his watch, so what? Who’s complaining, anyway?” (“On Target: Summary killings: Who’s complaining?“)

According to the HRW report, the creation and operation of the death squad was part of the anti-crime campaign of Tagum City’s former mayor Rey “Chiong” Uy who “sought to rid Tagum City of what the mayor frequently referred to as ‘weeds’: suspected petty criminals, drug dealers, small-time thieves, and children living or working on the streets.”

Evangelista responded: “What a death squad does can be called many things. It can be called revenge. It can be called justice. What is forgotten is that it should be called murder.” She exposed the sham in Tulfo’s arguments in support of the existence of death squads. Explaining the system’s failure in bringing those responsible to justice, she discussed why vigilantism persists and pointed out that this reality is an indication of the continuing abuse of power.

Tulfo also questioned the history of HRW, to which the organization replied: “Had Tulfo gone to our website, he would have found the numerous reports we have produced on US abuses in Afghanistan and Iraq, including on shootings and airstrikes by US forces, and abuses by US soldiers against detainees. He would also have found Human Rights Watch’s reporting on police brutality during the Guiliani era. Human Rights Watch has also conducted research on CIA torture and secret prisons, detentions at Guantanamo, poor prison conditions and the mistreatment of immigrants in the United States.” (“Letters to the Editor: Solution to broken justice system is reform, not death squads”, May 29)