Murder in the time of pandemic

HAD it not been caught on camera, what happened to Winston Ragos would have been just another entry in the ledger of deaths that would be labeled as “mga nanlaban,” or those who fought state authority. He would have joined a long list of drug suspects who were already handcuffed, but were able to steal the weapon of an arresting officer while inside a cramped police vehicle or of minors wearing shorts without pockets who would magically brandish .38 caliber weapons as they roam the streets at night.

Fortunately, cameras don’t lie. And what we saw was the armed agents of the state cornering Winston Ragos, a battle-shocked, discharged soldier, pointing a gun at him and shooting him twice just because he tried to get something from his sling bag. It doesn’t even matter what transpired before this, whether Ragos indeed misbehaved and verbally assaulted the police or that he was on the streets and had violated the enhanced community quarantine rules. After all, while shouting at uniformed personnel is an offense, it doesn’t justify the use of force, more so murder. And we all know that the bold order of President Rodrigo Duterte the police to kill violators of quarantine rules is nothing but just one of his legally unenforceable rants.