Kapunan on shootings: Dutertes contribute to PH’s violent culture

MANILA, Philippines — While she is not the sole factor as to why there is a culture of violence permeating in the country, Vice President Sara Duterte’s actions and words have contributed to its worsening, lawyer Lorna Kapunan said on Wednesday.

In an online press briefing, Kapunan — one of the counsels for the prosecution in Duterte’s impeachment trial — said that the vice president’s statements on hiring an assassin for P5,000 if her husband cheats is an indication of how she contributes to the culture of violence.

Kapunan said this amid questions on the school shooting at Ateneo de Zamboanga on Tuesday which claimed the lives of two students — less than two months since three students died in a separate incident in Tacloban City, Leyte.

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“If we can remember, she said that if her husband cheats, she will hire an assassin for P5,000, right? But is that how our culture is today?” she asked. 

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“If we have a high official, the vice president herself, saying that she knows assassins who she can hire for P5,000, is that our culture now? Are we (in) a culture of violence?” she wondered.

“When we saw, many of us saw the video where she made grave threats, we saw what the (vice) president said that I’ll cut off the head, statements like that, that she will hire someone to kill the first lady, the president, and the speaker of the House, that’s a culture of violence, right?” she inquired again.

READ: Sara Duterte asked: ‘Is P5,000 what you paid a hitman to kill Marcos?’

Kapunan said Duterte and her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte – who launched a bloody war against illegal drugs – have allowed such a culture to persist.

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Former President Rodrigo Duterte is currently detained at the International Criminal Court headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands for charges of crimes against humanity.

The cases are in connection with the drug war which claimed the lives of thousands — including individuals who were the subject of supposedly illegal and irregular operations.

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“The culture of his father, the extrajudicial killings, that’s the reason why his father is in The Hague. It’s because of extrajudicial killings, human rights violation. It’s a crime against humanity,” she said.

“So, that’s a culture of violence. Is that the legacy that our leaders will pass on to us?” she wondered anew.

“The values of our leaders, that is what our youth sees […]. It is now a culture of violence, and that is why we will come back to the impeachment,” Kapunan observed.

“Let us show that such a culture of violence cannot prevail, and that a high-ranking official like the vice president has to be responsible for her actions,” she said.

According to Kapunan, social media and the media itself are also to blame for giving too much airtime to gory stories, which means the Dutertes are not the only persons directly responsible for the proliferation of violent imagery. 

Kapunan said that instead of addressing the problem, the vice president is contributing to it, and she has become part of it.

“So, it’s not only the vice president whom I am saying is responsible. What I am saying is that she certainly is contributing to the problem, and not to the solution,” she noted.

Kapunan said a whole-of-government approach is needed to address the recent incidents inside schools.

“That is the default reaction of the vice president — to hire ng assassin, hold press conferences where she makes threats. That cannot be the leadership example of a high public official,” she said.

Kapunan cited other factors: “And we also need to look at our justice system. Are there individuals convicted? Are there delays in our justice system?”

“And then our school curriculum. There should be an all-of-government approach in terms of our school curriculum. Did we bring back good manners and right conduct classes, teaching community values?” she wanted to know.

On Tuesday, the Ateneo de Zamboanga University confirmed that two individuals — including the Grade 8 student tagged as the shooter — died in the incident.

READ: Zamboanga City school shooting suspect dead — DILG

According to the school management, it is coordinating with authorities on a full report and has established official communication channels to provide verified updates.

READ: Ateneo de Zamboanga confirms 2 dead in campus shooting

Several lawmakers affiliated with the prosecution team said that while the school shooting in Ateneo de Zamboanga raises concerns, this does not justify the need to allocate confidential funds (CF) within the Department of Education (DepEd) — just like what Durterte did when she headed the agency.

According to House prosecutor and Manila Rep. Joel Chua, the focus of DepEd should be on how to craft the students’ curriculum, and not on addressing security threats – which is the mandate of law enforcement agencies like the police and defense institutions.

Chua said DepEd is not trained for crime prevention, as its primary mandate is to teach students.

Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, spokesperson for the prosecution panel, said in the same press briefing that the shooting could have been prevented if DepEd under Duterte used its CF properly.

READ: Despite school shooting, solons insist on no CF for DepEd

School-related violence has seen an uptick in the country over the recent months.  

Last June 22, three students were killed and five others were wounded when two suspects — who are minors and are students — opened fire inside the San Jose National High School campus in Tacloban City, Leyte.

Both suspects, a 14-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy, both of whom were Grade 9 students, were arrested on the same day.  

A Glock pistol and a caliber .38 revolver were confiscated from them. /apl

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READ: Both suspects in Tacloban City school shooting arrested — police