Dum Spiro Spero

Our president is very keen to eliminate illegal drugs in our country. A lot of families,
individuals and most especially citizens’ lives were destroyed because of the use of illegal drugs.
The users, instead of working for the economy, instead of providing sustenance for their
families, chose to steal money, chose to be involved in trafficking others in order to satisfy their
excessive longing for these substances. These substances are said to comfort those who use it but
in reality it is a vehicle of escape to the problems the individual is facing. These substances
provide an illusion of a better state away from the reality they avoid to confront.

In order to stop the circulation of illegal drugs, in order to stop the lives of the citizens
from being jeopardized by these substances, our president declared war against those people who
are providing it and against those people who are using it. Our president has a vision to alleviate
the Filipino people from poverty which majority of the Filipinos face today. In order for us to be
divorced from poverty, law and order should first be established, and when it is established, one
of the expected events that will happen will be that businessmen from other countries will come
to the Philippines carrying in mind that the Philippines’ crime rate is low which is good for
business. Law and order for our president should be the first thing to be imposed. Nevertheless, it
should be noted that although it is important for it to be enforced and respected it is also
imperative for due process not only to be emphasized but also to be practiced.

Our country is experiencing a lot of killings that are related to illegal drugs. The numbers
of killings are rising since before our new president took the oath to govern our country. The
newspapers will tell us and show us grotesque images of dead individuals who were shot by the
police. The police in defense say that they were drug pushers who refused to surrender. The
police should realize that the ones they shot were suspected criminals; there is recent news that
the police killed a drug suspect together with the suspect’s brother who had nothing to do with
drugs. Everyone should be given a fair trial as what our constitution says, it should be
emphasized again that a suspect is innocent until proven guilty.

William Blackstone, an English jurist in the eighteenth century has influenced our
modern penal system. To paraphrase what he said, “I will rather free ten criminals than to
imprison an innocent man.” During Blackstone’s time, people were sentenced to death without
proper trial. They were sent to the gallows or burned at the stake. Nevertheless, when morality
and reason had given birth to humanism, these practices stopped.

What if the one who was killed was only accused? What if the accusations were wrong
and were only made for political retribution? What if he did the whatsoever crime out of
poverty? Can those who killed those accused individuals bring him back to life?

The answer for the latter question is an absolute No! When William Blackstone said that
he would rather free ten criminals than to imprison an innocent man, thought that no amount of
apologies would bring back the luster of life into the innocent man who was imprisoned because
of pure unjustified speculation. Imprisoning, punishing, murdering an individual without proving
the accusations will never be in any way create a just society. The act of killing an accused drug
pusher is in no way justifiable. Due process is an imperative to be emphasized.

Every person has the right to be given a free trial. An individual may be a suspect of a
crime but does not entirely follow that he is guilty of the accusations. A person who is accused of
illegality should prove himself if he pleads to be not guilty of committing the crime. The
punishment to the crime should always be justifiable. A good jurisprudence is a manifestation of
a just society.

Whenever we use our reason to execute actions, the essence of our actions is directed
towards a goal, which is moral. Morality can never be and should never be divorced from our
actions. It is morality that makes us human. Whenever we see corpses lying on the street, it is
inevitable for us to show shock. It is the very impulse of being troubled by the scene of violence
that makes us think of human morality.

Those who execute or planning to execute people should think twice before dispatching
those who are suspected of using illegal trade. Behind the ones who use illegal means is a human
being. Humanness, which is shared by everyone, should be the basis of deliberation for the
measure against them.

When an individual has wronged that jeopardize the society, he is sure to be punished.
The punishment should not result to death, the person should rather be imprisoned than depriving
him of his life. Imprisonment should be geared towards reformation; to imprison the individual is
to reform the individual so that when he has fully served his sentence, he can be reconciled again
to the society. If the individual has served his sentence and was given the chance to go back to
the society, it is ideal for him to help build the society and live as an upright citizen. If he is
deprived of life, he cannot do anything otherwise.

There is a Latin saying which says, “Dum Spiro Spero” which means “While I breathe, I
hope.” This saying means that while an individual is still alive, there is a chance of hope. The
very act of hope indicates the chance of an individual to change. When an individual wills to
undergo a metanoia, a complete reversal from his old crooked ways, it is something can celebrate
about. Nevertheless, he can only change, he can only undergo this complete reversal from
crooked ways to straight if he still breathes and hopes.