When Your Family and Friends Became a Collateral Damage to Duterte's War On Drugs, Will You Still Support Him?

 When Your Family and Friends Became a Collateral Damage to Duterte's War On Drugs, Will You Still Support Him?

     It was morning on October 2nd when i heard the news from my mother that our family friend, Regan Dela Cruz has passed on the night before. According to our relatives in Tondo, Manila, Regan just got home after a days work and was invited by a passing friend for a night's drink. Shortly after wards, with their sits not even hot, a drink has yet to be enjoyed, a couple of policemen suddenly appeared and fired shots at them. And morning came and reports were made by several television news agencies citing that the police was on shabu raid and the two suspected drug users in Tondo attempted to resist police arrest, thereby resulting in their opened fire. Thus, another two lives were added to the growing list of dead counts to President Duterte's war on crime and drugs. More importantly, we lost a family friend. we lost someone important to us.

The sad truth.

     Regan was a 33 year old bachelor who came from a broken family with siblings, a mother and family scattered around the county. he had a job and was struggling to made things better in his life. He had yet to figure out what he wanted in his life and what directions he should be taking. 

    He is your typical Filipino young man who were dropped out of school, he didn't finished high school and were known to jump from one job to another. And when he had a job, he will do something to screw it up eventually. Also typical of a Filipino, he had a lot of friends. He was loved by many because he was always smiling, easy going man that you can always rely to do something for you. It might be some dishes that you him to cook, some errands to run, something to do to lighten up the work load, someone to call who can support you in times of need. He has been a friend by many, many people. However, some circle of his friends were small time drug user, drug pusher.

Unfortunate circumstance.

    Regan was at the time in his life where money were tight and he had no one to turn to. Because he was poor with no money, he didn't even had a permanent house to lived in he was forced to lived under his several friends kindness. He ended up living in Tondo, Manila, where squatters are abound, a place where a lot of people were living with questionable integrity. And because of Regan's poor circumstance, he was forced to live under the roof of his friends with ill reputation, ignoring some of his friends urging to take care and not to get himself involved with something dangerous.

A war on drugs.

    During the campaign period, Duterte promise to solved the country's perennial problems on crime and drugs in six months were met with such approval that earned him the title of the 16th president of Philippine Republic. Ever since Duterte sworn office last June 30th, almost everyday we heard the news on the radio and television about the summary executions and extrajudicial killings involved in drugs, the rapid rise in dead counts, drugs users cramming up the jails. In our small humble household, we didn't know that this war on crime and drugs could end up this way.

Extrajudicial killings.

   

    I am not an expert on this subject and I may understand less but one thing I knew. I knew this man, Regan Dela Cruz who might not be a man of exemplary lifestyle, he may have done so many wrongdoings but I am certain that he was a "good" man. He didn't hurt any one, didn't commit any crimes not even a petty one and he is definitely not a drug pusher.

Why?

    A lot of questions were asked. Why him? Is he really involved in drugs? Is he a drug pusher or a drug user? Is he a drug addict? The answer is a no, he was not a drug addict nor a drug pusher. What happened to him was the case of someone who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. The friend whom invited him for a drink was someone who was on the hot list of station police. We were told that the intent to gun down that friend was there. Before the fateful night happened, residents of Tondo were told to shut down their lights and no one will get out. Two police were on the look out at the back of the house while the others waited in the darkness. With tones hushed, conversations whispered among the scared residents, relatives and friends of the deceased that there was no resistance and that the gun and a packet of shabu were planted. Regan received three shots, one in the head, neck and at the back to make it appeared that they were running and they have to be shot.

The war is not ending.

   As of writing, the government has released another long list of names that are involved on drugs. The government also stated that the crime rate were downed by 50% especially on petty crimes and motorcycle theft. It clearly were a good news but I can't help but feel sad thinking about those people who were killed unceremoniously with no judicial proceedings and not even an ounce of remorse to the lives taken away and a future that was lost to them. I also feared for my family because with situation like in our country, no one is really safe because anyone could be killed and blame it on drugs.

A family that was taken away

In memory of Regan Dela Cruz