Struggles

struggles

Table 34

Struggles faced by the EJK survivors

Main themes Legal Process Sub-themes 1. 2. 3. 4.

No witness

Fear/Distrust, Intimidation from police/assailants

Lack of Awareness of Legal Processes

Falsified information/documents

Emotional and Social Struggles 1. 2. 3. 4. Unprocessed intense emotions Lack of support from family Financial Lack Victim-blaming and culture of impunity

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This journey to healing and recovery is a long and tedious process, one that is full of challenges and struggles, and these surviving families endure all of these to survive every single day and live normally. Their current dispositions and the lack of support they experience make it harder for them to “repair” or claim for reparation of damages both in the legal and non-legal sense. The WoD and its implications is a legal issue, thus the current legal and justice process has been an enormous challenge for the families in their quest for justice. They have shared how their lack of knowledge of the legal process and fear or distrust towards authorities have hindered them, as well as the lack of witnesses and falsification of their loved ones’ death documents. Moreover, the families are struggling with the emotional and social constraints such as unprocessed emotions, lack of support from their family members to their endeavors of finding justice, the financial difficulties they experience and the culture of impunity in the communities and larger systems they are in.

LEGAL PROCESS

Four women admitted that they did not take any action when the injustices happened to them due to not knowing what to do and how the legal process works, while there were seven who expressed that they are afraid and do not trust the system thus preventing them from taking any action. “Veronica” shares that “Wala po akong ginawa, kahit po police report walang nagbigay sa akin. Hindi ko rin alam paano kumuha.” (I did not do anything, the police report was not even given to me. I did not know how to get one.) “Tina” expressed fear of the perpetrators, “Tsaka takot na kami, kagaya ng mga kasama namin na nagkakaso sila, baka balik-balikan. Baka mamaya pati kami” (Besides we are afraid, our fellow victims who have filed cases

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have been harassed again, we could be next). This was also affirmed by “Claire” who says “Natakot po ako kasi baka mamaya balikan kami kung sino man ‘yon” (We are afraid that whoever did it would come back and hurt us).

Seven incidents did not have any witnesses to help them with the case, and four have experienced being given falsified documents about the death of their family members. While “Natalie” wishes to do something, she is limited by the fact that they do not know who did it to them. “Kahit isipin, gustong gusto kong magkaroon ng hustisya pero wala kami Ma’am maituro, naka-bonnet.” (Even if I really want to get justice, we cannot identify anyone; they were wearing bonnets). Aside from justice, basic government assistance were also deprived from them, as “Carol” shares that they were told that “Hindi daw po kami makakalapit sa mga government agency kung ang kinamatay ng asawa ko ay tungkol sa panlalaban ng pulis” (we will not be able to seek assistance from government agencies if the death of my husband is related to incidents with the police), thus prompting them to agree and accept the falsified information on the documents.

The legal process is long and complicated and is often delayed and hindered by multiple factors faced by the families of the victims. Aside from the lack of legal knowledge or where to seek help, distrust in the authorities prevent them from seeking assistance and protection. Fear is a common emotion that discourages these families to pursue legal action, and this comes from the continuous intimidation by the authorities towards the family and community. This resonates with PhilRights’ findings (2019) where police personnel are still seen making rounds in the communities even after the killings. Manufactured evidence such as planted drugs and weapons, and falsified medical and death certificates being used to justify the killings is also a pattern seen across different cases of EJKs (Conde, 2019). This is also supported by Espenido (2018) who shares that families of HRV victims are often denied assistance if the deaths are reported as drugrelated. This has also affected the dynamics of how communities help and work with one another. Due to the lingering fear of being involved or being the next target, the former’s close-knit relationships have now become distanced and full of uncertainty. The study of BALAY Rehabilitation and DIGNITY (2017) echoes this sentiment that this drug war has definitely altered the social fabric of the communities affected and the way they deal with each other.

EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL STRUGGLES

Emotional and social struggles such as unprocessed intense emotions, financial struggles, lack of support from family members, victim-blaming, and the culture of impunity being instilled in society are among the many struggles the surviving families have faced and are facing even up to now. One of the 10 respondents has shared that one struggle that she wrestled with was her anger and resentment towards the assailant of her son. She said,

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“Nung time na yun, nakapagsalita nga ako na sana mamatay yung buong angkan nung nagpatay ng anak ko. Sana mabaril din sila, kung anong nangyari sa anak ko danasin nila para yung magulang nila maramdaman din yung naramdaman ko.” (During that time, I was able to speak ill towards the assailant. I wished for the assailant and his whole clan to die and the parents would experience what I experienced when my son was killed).

Aside from struggling with intense emotions, another respondent struggled with her mentality that her husband was killed in the anti-drug campaign of the government solely because of her husband’s fault. When the said respondent was educated of her rights by human rights advocates and groups, she was able to realize that her mentality was wrong and her husband did not deserve to be murdered just because he was guilty of drug use. She mentioned,

Kasi po noong una talaga wala po akong alam (sa mga karapatan)...hindi rin po talaga ako interesado kasi noon una talagang nasa isip ko na ang ikinamatay kasi ng asawa ko dahil diyan sa bisyo niya. So parang naisip ko, talo ako. (I really don’t know anything about human rights…I was not initially interested because I thought that my husband’s death was really caused by his drug usage and so I thought I am at a disadvantage).

Another apparent struggle is financial lack. Two respondents have outrightly expressed that being financially unstable made it hard for them to demand for justice. They both want to pursue filing a legal case because they were able to identify the assailants who are police officers, and they have solid evidence, both in the form of a video, for the said operations. However, the cost for fighting until their cases win and justice is rightly served is not free because of the expenses that come with it. Meanwhile, lack of support from family members has been a struggle for two respondents. They have expressed that the mothers of their deceased partners have conveyed their disagreement in pursuing a legal case for security and financial reasons.

The aforementioned intense anger is an emotional impact suffered by the said respondent after experiencing EJK. This reaction is indicated in the article of Family Caregiver Alliance (2013) of possible reactions of people who have lost someone. According to Clarke (2020) in an article about the five stages of grief, anger is a valid response from someone who is grieving, especially to someone who experienced injustice. However, this emotion should not be left unprocessed; otherwise, healing and adjusting to the current reality would be harder to achieve. Based on the response of the respondent, she felt vengeful towards the assailant and his family that she wished they would die and feel all kinds of negative emotions she had felt.