(We yield this space to the statement of One Voice, a group of religious leaders in the Philippines, due to its timeliness. – Ed.)
ON JUNE 14, 2021 the outgoing International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced that she has concluded her preliminary examination in the Philippines and is seeking authorization from the Court’s judges for a full investigation into crimes against humanity, torture and the extrajudicial killings committed in connection with the war on drugs (WoD) under the government of Rodrigo Duterte. These killings are diabolical as these are not just a violation of human rights but a desecration of life itself which we hold sacred.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the war on drugs has been unabated. This impunity makes state agents judge and executioner at the same time in brazen violation of right to due process. The culture of absolute impunity has made our communities similar to the “Valley of Dry Bones” found in Ezekiel 37 of the Hebrew Bible.
Verses 1 to 2 reads, “The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry.” No less than the Lord, takes Ezekiel, a prophet, in the middle of dead bodies, many dead bodies. Like Ezekiel, the Lord asks us to leave our comfort zones and go where people are crying, suffering, dying and being killed. Like Ezekiel, while we do not know fully well the way the dead have lived, but their lives matter. They matter to those who loved them and they matter to us who hold all life sacred. More importantly, we must ask why there is a “valley of dry bones?”
Since 2016, we have seen the “valley of dry bones” growing as a result of the war on drugs. We demand that those who orchestrate and execute these state-sanctioned murders be held accountable. The war on drugs is evil as it is designed and orchestrated by the most powerful in government against those who have been disempowered and oppressed. It is evil as it is organized killing by people elected to power whose mandate is to uphold and defend the dignity and life of every Filipino. It is great evil as the government itself is denying the sanctity of life and creating a “valley of dry bones.”
The last two verses of the pericope in Ezekiel 37 expresses a rising up. It reads in verses 13 to 14, “And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.” The rising up is not just for the dead but also for the living – the Ezekiels, prophets and faithful who must continue to hold the hands, dry the tears and accompany the families and victims of the “war on drugs.”
The crimes done to the victims of this bloody war is not just an attack on a person, their loved ones, families and friends. It is a crime that endangers us all. We at One Voice cry out for justice for the victims. May our calls for justice reverberate as we seek life and dignity for the people of our nation, and may we become one as a people as we pursue just peace and common good for all.
