Safety under the New Regime

[Kuya John]

Question I would like to ask the forum members.

Since the election of the New President, do you feel more safer or not?

This is a straight forward question, if it's permitted.

respectfully JB

[Jack Peterson]

30 minutes ago, Kuya John said:

Since the election of the New President, do you feel more safer or not?

 For JB nothing has changed

[Mike J]

For me the question pulls my thoughts in two different directions.  On the one hand I applaud the effort of the new president's commitment to root out drug related crime and corruption.  The two seem to go hand in hand are both so deeply rooted in the very fabric of Philippine society that extreme measures were necessary to address the depth of the problem.  When faced with an overwhelming problem he took drastic action.  The crime statistics would indicate that those efforts are in fact being effective.  While I cannot say that I really feel any safer, I cannot help but feel that society as a whole is safer.  On the other hand there is no question that vigilante justice has taken a great many lives in the months since the president has taken office.  There is also a concern among many people that the police themselves may be responsible for some of these extrajudicial killings, or in the killing of suspects when lethal force was not required.  And therein lies the quandary; at what point does the crime inherent in vigilante justice outweigh the criminal problems it was supposed to address?  Vigilante justice by it's nature is a slippery slope.  The target now appears to be individuals involved with, or suspected to be involved, drugs.  If society as a whole allows this, what crime will come next?  At what point will the "solution" become an even worse problem than what allowed it to become established in the first place.

Do I feel safer?  For now on balance yes, for the future . . . that remains to be seen.

[Dave Hounddriver]

I do not feel any safer or less safe than before.  Life has always been cheap here so flying "under the radar" keeps us foreigners safe most of the time.  I do feel that the world in general is closer to the end of times:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_Clock

" As of January 2017, the Clock is set at two and a half minutes to midnight . . . . This setting is the Clock's second closest approach to midnight since its introduction."

Edited March 11, 2017 by Dave Hounddriver

[Kuya John]

Dave

I sure hope my personal clock keeps ticking for a least another 10 years.

While I see the purpose behind the "vigilante style" killings  were does it stop?

Desperate  needs force desperate means, but the losing face killings are the ones that worry me.

What good is justice if winning it costs you you're  life?

 

Edited March 11, 2017 by Kuya John

[Dave Hounddriver]

2 minutes ago, Kuya John said:

What good is justice,if winning it costs you you're life.

I can think of many countries where the bad elements of society have murdered judges, politicians and lawyers who tried to bring these bad elements to justice.  In this country, Philippines, there are individual foreigners who get murdered by these bad elements for standing up for themselves.  But not every good foreigner is murdered and there are a lot of good foreigners here

As the great parliamentarian Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”  We must stand up for ourselves but we must do so knowing that some good men die in this country when they stand up for themselves.  Knowing that we must pick our battles but if we still choose to live here we have to accept that shit happens.  Fly under the radar or take your chances against some corrupt person who hires a hitman. Its up to each of us to choose his path in life.

[Kuya John]

11 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

 Its up to each of us to choose his path in life.

I like it Dave   

Spoiler

 

[Tukaram (Tim)]

No I do not feel any safer - but I really don't feel any less safe... yet.

But there is never an excuse for vigilante "justice". Murder is murder. Overall it is going to hurt the country.  And a lot of expats are asking a very logical question: what group is the next target?

[mogo51]

I think Mike J makes some very valid points.  Dangerous positions require drastic action, DU30 realised this and has acted accordingly.

There is the reverse side of course and vigilante activity is a downside for certain.  But I just believe he had little choice or Phils would have continued to fall into the vacuum and cess pool that is the drug trade.

I am not there yet so cannot on the safety factors, but I have not felt unsafe in Phils previously as I do not engage them at all. Anything that can bring about the end to this appalling 'life cancer' is OK by me.

[Snowy79]

I'm pretty much content with my life in the Philippines and never really felt unsafe. I've driven into areas not recommended for foreigners and walked around Manila at night. You can spend too much time worrying about safety and lock yourself away for the rest of your days but personally I don't go out of my way to make enemies. I never flash the cash or wear jewellery including a watch.

I look on life and death as a lottery, someone has to win even given the odds. I just look on what I do as using the same numbers every week. I might win eventually but I've still only got a few million to one chance of being that one. Those that lock themselves away still have a chance of winning though. In the mean time I've experienced lots that others never will. If my luck runs out I've had a good life. I just hope there's enough of me left to feed the worms.

Edited March 12, 2017 by Snowy79