How social media manifested as an alternative justice system
With reports of extrajudicial killings plaguing the country since the War on Drugs began, many have condemned the killings and the seeming failure of the Philippine justice system to address such issues. Thus, many have turned to other mediums to call out injustice — social media.
While social media has been the center of what could be considered as alternative justice systems like cancel culture, its usage as an escape from the country’s flawed justice system escalated after netizens woke up on December 20 to a news that a policeman shot a mother and her son over a dispute over the usage of a boga (an improvised noisemaker cannon) and preexisting land disputes.
The shooting in Paniqui, Tarlac was captured on camera and went viral on social media in the wake of the incident. Many were outraged over the shooting, and took to Twitter to express their frustrations.
One netizen commented, referencing the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s motto:
“Your badge and position isn’t a license to kill! You’re here to protect and serve the people!”
Even celebrities and lawmakers condemned the killings.
Maine Mendoza, also known as Yaya Dub, tweeted out:
“Bakit kailangang umabot doon? Hindi ko kaya, grabe, Hindi ko alam kung ano ang mararamdaman ko pero pwede bang barilin ka nalang din sa harap ng anak mo? Sorry Lord pero sobra kasi yun eh. Sobra yung ginawa niya. Hustisya para sa mag-inang Gregorio.”
Sen. Franklin Drilon also denounced the incident:
“This is pure evil. That devil who committed an evil act in front of his own daughter deserves to rot in jail. I have no words to describe his unspeakable act. He should spend Christmas and a lifetime in jail.”
Some netizens even linked the shooting to Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s ongoing War on Drugs, where nearly 8,000 have been killed according to the Human Rights Watch, many of which remain unsolved.
Gideon Lasco stated on his Twitter:
“Never forget the bruality and the impunity enabled by this bloodstained administration.”
The killings attained such a high profile on social media that it even trended internationally. For instance, #JusticeForSonyaGregorio ranked third on the trending tab in Singapore. Likewise, the same tag also trended in Dubai.
However, social media — a societal structure that allows for calling out injustice when the justice system was too slow — could not get together in the aftermath of another death in the wake of 2021.
The death of Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight attendant Christine Dacera after a party at the City Garden Grand Hotel in Makati City spawned many mysteries that social media tried to put together to discover what happened. Some netizens hastily assumed that Dacera was raped based on the initial evidence that has been publicized.
One netizen wrote on Twitter:
“Spread their names. Spread their ugly faces. The cause of rape will always be the rapist and NOTHING ELSE. Victims should never be blamed because of the sick decisions and behaviors of men.”
However, autopsies later revealed that there was no evidence that Dacera was raped, and ruled the incident as a natural death due to ruptured aortic aneurysm. Many netizens shortly took back their comments on the Dacera case after.
The hasty assumptions of netizens on the incident led one writer to conclude that social media lynch mobs degrade the due process by making such cases more emotional than one based on logical reasoning.
benign0 wrote on his website Get Real Philippines:
“This is the reason why police investigations take time and properly-conducted court trials take even longer. The sides of all parties need to be considered and theories systematically developed on the back of evidence and ruled out when said evidence does not stack up.”
However, the discussions sparked by these incidents only show that netizens are fed up with the injustices they perceive around them, and fed up with the environment of violence and deaths around them. The denunciations that come with each incident further solidifies how everyone wants to take action to change the environment they live in for the better in a world where no one could almost be certainly trusted, even if it means looking towards systems other than the Philippine justice system.
References:
https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/1/6/Christine-Dacera-case-PNP-Sinas.html
https://philnews.ph/2021/01/28/christine-dacera-case-pnp-findings-cause-of-death-autopsy/
https://www.rappler.com/nation/lawmakers-condemn-policeman-jonel-nuezca-killing-mother-son-tarlac
https://www.rappler.com/nation/netizens-reaction-tarlac-cop-killing-december-2020
https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/12/21/Paniqui-Tarlac-police-shooting-Jonel-Nuezca-Sonya-Frank-Gregorio.html
