Hell is not a place | Opinion on victims of extrajudicial killings

But the truth is, we never really had a taste of heaven and hell until reality slapped us hard in the face — a triangle that only meant a shape to us as kids now represents the dreadful hierarchy. The class struggle slowly becomes evident as the gap between us and the one percent widens. Suddenly, injustice washes away our innocence. We never really knew hell until basic needs like food and shelter seemed like luxuries only the rich could afford. Education, food security, justice, and welfare are all privileges of the elite. Opportunities keep sliding off our hands as we struggle to survive each agonizing day while everything’s easy for the wealthy and fortunate. While we struggle for life, for them, it is even easier to take one’s basic human rights. We never really knew how hell felt like until the trigger was pulled and the blood splattered. And suddenly the question popped in our heads – “Why me?”

Now, it all makes sense. Hell is neither a place nor a spiritual realm. One needs not to die to experience the deep hollow pit of unquenchable fire. One only needs to be born under a regime of a tyrannical lapdog like Rodrigo Duterte and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to know what hell truly meant. 

Hell is neither a place nor a spiritual realm. Hell is the brutal living conditions and the rotting judicial system in the Philippines that makes life unsurvivable for Filipinos. Hell does not compare to the agonizing pain of existing while knowing about the wrongful death of a loved one.

Approximately 30,000 Filipinos, mostly urban-poor, were slain in vigilante-style killings during the peak of Duterte’s war on drugs campaign. Duterte’s legacy of bloodbath and crimes against humanity claimed the lives of 427 activists, human rights defenders, and grassroots organizers; 166 land and environmental defenders; 23 media workers and journalists; 66 judges, lawyers, and prosecutors, and; 28 local political leaders. 

Despite these records or his ambitious promise of change, Duterte ended his term with still no strong manifestation that the problem of drugs was resolved or even lessened. If any, Duterte was only successful in making sure that living under his regime will remain to feel suffocating like a slow, painful death – just like that. Just like hell. 

And just when we had the littlest gleam of hope when his term was about to end, another cold-blooded murderer took over his post – and he is just as guilty as his predecessor. The legacy Duterte started is being carried through by Marcos Jr. Extrajudicial killings still happen today — even without Duterte as president -– and our province is no exception to these injustices. Records show that as of 30 June 2023, at least 16 extrajudicial killings in Bicol had been documented by Karapatan, a human rights alliance.

The Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte tandem has ensured that policies endangering the Filipinos’ rights and freedom stayed firmly. Through Executive Order 70, Proclamation 374, and Memorandum Order 32, the administration was able to: (1) create the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) which is at the frontline of labeling civilians and critics as terrorists; (2) declare the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) as a “designated/identified” terrorist organization under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, and; (3) orchestrate intensified counterinsurgency operations in the Negros Island, Leyte-Samar, and Bicol region which resulted to several enforced disappearances, human rights violations, and peasant killings.

These machineries also enabled heightened crackdown and harassment of Bicolano activists, instilling fear and intimidation to silence critical voices. Despite being situated in the city, residents of some areas in Naga, such as Concepcion, experience militarization and threats by state forces. Multiple reports were also documented that students residing in nearby barangays and municipalities have experienced house-to-house visits by military troops, asking invasive questions and red-tagging other activists.

Cases where the military forces civilians to sign up as fake surrenderees have long been revealed by several activists. Unfortunately, Bicolano activists and even students are not spared from such tactics and continue to face their worst fears.

Despite the harsh reality and the piling cases of human rights violations, Marcos Jr.’s silence persists. However, his silence does not spare him from accountability for all the injustices happening under his watch while he enjoys his luxurious trips. Progressive groups continue to advocate for the abolition of NTF-ELCAC and the resumption of genuine peace talks where the demands and concerns of the masses will be heard and addressed. As the president, he has the power to junk exploitative Duterte-era policies such as the Anti-Terror Law and Cyberlibel which persist in abusing the masses and the critics. Marcos Jr. owes the thousands of victims of extrajudicial killings the long overdue justice by allowing the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Duterte’s drug war. Most importantly, he owes the Filipinos a good, clean, and progressive governance as the country's elected leader. But by far, Marcos Jr. has been nothing but a failure as Filipinos continue to feel the burden of inflation, impunity, and lack of justice and accountability. 

Fascists like the Dutertes and the Marcoses kill for greed. Fascists like them deserve no forgiveness for the hell they created in every Filipino’s life.