Brothers and sisters, it was not Covid-19 but a bullet from the gun of a police officer that caused the death of 34-year-old retired soldier Winston Ragos. This past week, news reports described how the former soldier was killed after reportedly attempting to draw a gun while at a checkpoint in Quezon City.
The police confronted him because he was allegedly violating the enhanced community quarantine, and was said to have shouted at, and threatened, the officers manning the checkpoint. It was also discovered that Ragos was suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, a condition he developed after being deployed in Marawi in 2017, which explained his behavior at the checkpoint that angered the police. The residents, who witnessed the incident, attempted to stop the police because they knew about Ragos’s condition. But the police continued to threaten the former soldier, and they ultimately shot him. What is even worse is that instead of allowing investigators to gather pieces of evidence from the crime scene, like the gun that was reportedly being carried by Ragos, the police themselves are the ones who retrieved them. Fortunately, the incident was caught on CCTV.
What happened to Winston Ragos is one of the cruelest events that transpired since the government implemented the enhanced community quarantine to stop the spread of the deadly Covid-19. It was human life that was sacrificed in line with efforts to enforce discipline among the people amid the health crisis. But many incidents of abuse occur every day since the government started limiting the movements of 55 million people in the entire area of Luzon. For as long as we can remember, cruelty was also the authorities’ answer to almost 100 residents of Sitio San Roque, also in Quezon City, who went outside their community to call for help from the local government. We can also see from the news how the police treated the residents, especially in the poor communities. They shout at those who are outside their homes and carry them to precincts or even punish those who aren’t wearing face masks or not following the rules.
Amid all these, what can we rely on if even our own leaders—headed by the President—who commanded authorities to “shoot them dead” if they see those who violate the lockdown and whom they see as threats to their lives? The police even swore to the President not to give any warnings for the arrest of violators.
The equivalent of the word “peace” in Hebrew is “shalom”, which can also be translated to fullness or even completeness. And this is emphasized in the social teaching of the Holy Church, peace not only achievable through the absence of war or conflict but having full trust with one another and from solidarity.
With our current situation, peace is important—one form of peace that cannot be achieved through fear mongering and threats but by trusting each other. From the Winston Ragos incident, as well as those who fear the authorities, how do we expect people to give their trust? How can we achieve peace amid the prevailing worry and uncertainty?
Brothers and sisters, like what the mother of Winston Ragos said, it is the virus that is our enemy, not the innocent people. Like what we are reminded by the book of Jeremiah 22:3, “Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.” We expect an impartial investigation of what happened to Winston Ragos, and may the family of the fallen soldier achieve justice.
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