Duterte’s ‘shoot to kill’ policy risks becoming bloodbath
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Philippine president-elect Rodrigo Duterte is an enigma. He claims to be a leftist and has offered communists seats in his cabinet. Yet at the same time he says he will use the military to assist the police in killing suspected criminals, revealing the li
His “shoot to kill” order also threatens disaster, since it takes no account of the mental faculties of those with their fingers on the trigger.
Is Duterte even aware that many in the Communist Party’s armed wing, the New People’s Army, are victims of military abuse and terrorism? Imagine a soldier with undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder going on a shooting rampage in a densely populated area because the local cop had directed him to a den of drug users?
Law enforcement is best left to police, who have psychological training and are part of their community.
Jose Santamaria
Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
