Despite assurances from PNP Chief Bato de La Rosa, Tokhang Part 2 will not be bloodless because the policy itself, which codified murder through the term “neutralization”, is an illegal and violent policy in nature.
Tokhang and Doubel Barrel do not talk about apprehension and rehabilitation, they just order police forces to neutralize elements suspected of involvement in drugs.
Sa polisiyang Tokhang at Double Barrel, inuna ang pagiging guilty ng tao at nasa suspek ang bigat para patunayan na sila ay inosente. Binaligtad ang prinsipyo ng due process at delikado ito dahil mas madaling mag-akusa kaysa magpairal ng hustisya.
Imbis na palakasin ang batas, sa Oplan Tokhang at Double Barrel, ang sagot ay dahas.
But in the context of corruption charges against law enforcement agencies such as the DOJ (stemming from the P50m Immigration bribery cover-up), and the killing of a Korean national right inside Camp Crame, the government agencies enforcing this bloody policy have no credibility.
Instead, government should respond decisively and convincingly to the reports of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch which points to the culpability of PNP and the Duterte administration for the 7,000+ killings which remain unsolved to this day.
Akbayan reiterates its position: ang droga ay isyu ng kalusugan, ito ay problema ng komunidad. Hindi ito masosolusyunan sa pamamagitan ng karahasan. Lumikha dapat ng trabaho at sugpuin ang kahirapan. Strengthen local governments to institute preventive and rehabilitative programs, not coerce them into meeting dubious quotas to meet the 4-million addicts Duterte is targeting.
Government must uphold the rules, because in the long term, we can only eradicate drugs and criminality when we invest in institutions that implement the law.
Akbayan reiterates its call for the Duterte administration to prioritize the resolution of the cases of extra-judicial killings and stop Tokhang and Double Barrel immediately. They have proven to be corrupt and ineffective strategies against drugs, and let not more blood spill in the streets before this madness kills more people.