"What is a Christian response to Duterte?" This question was posed by my students in the conflict transformation class I teach at Asian Theological Seminary in Quezon City. What they really wanted to know was my perspective, as a resident of Davao city and a Christian peacemaker, regarding policies of extra judicial killings, the kind championed by Rody Duterte previously as mayor of Davao city, and now president of the Philippine nation. As a disclaimer, I have no problem with Pres. Duterte, he has some good "peace" initiatives, but his policy on justice and crime control needs critical examination as part of the broader effort for genuine and inclusive national development.
8/15/2008 - "A Spirit of Death walks the streets" After Angelica was stabbed to death this morning, a sense of fear assaulted the community. Angelica was the 3rd in a string of hits on the gay/transvestite community working in the sex trade. He was the center, flamboyant, everyone's friend....
Jason [another sex worker] asked Annabelle [an outreach worker] to accompany him to the police station to be taken off the list...the hit list is maintained by police, or at least they have access to it...Steve said the DDS (Davao Death Squad) is the only effective alternative to courts, where cases are not effectively prosecuted. "Targets" are warned, if they continue, then warned again, then taken out [killed].
The previous quotes are entries from my journal, the one I used in 2008 to record my thoughts as part of a Filipino sinalikway ("abandoned ones") outreach team among street youth and men and women in the sex trade in Davao City. It is these, the outcasts, the marginalized, the poor and desperately addicted - who bear the brunt of deadly policing. These journal entries highlight the heart of the the question. In fact, I take the question posed by my students to be less about Duterte, and more about how Christians of any and every kind, claiming to be followers of Jesus, the prince of peace, engage in the world of coercion, violence and death.
If we consider our creation story as a collective narrative grounding our understanding of human nature and social identity, we can also discern how to live in accordance with that identity and narrative. The scriptures read, "God created human kind in his own image, male and female he created them." This statement, reflecting the belief not only of Christians, but of Muslims and Jews, provides an anchor, asserting that all people are created as reflections of the identity of God. Many indigenous Filipino creation stories contain a similar theme. For the Talaandig tribe in Bukidnon province, the first human was brought to life when Magbabaya, God-the-creator, breathed into him and brought him to life. Life is sustained by the very breathe or spirit (Hebrew "ruah") of God, and all humans - including drug addicts, sex workers, gang members, corrupt politicians, wealthy business people, ordinary tricycle drivers, teachers - everyone, bears the sacred imprint of the divine.
Furthermore, the first instructions given by the creator show us how to live out the creative potential imparted by the divine breath of life: to establish a community of people on earth ("be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth"); to further develop, harmonize and cultivate the natural resources of creation ("Rule over every living thing....God...put him in the Garden to cultivate and keep it"); and finally, to "name" the animals, that is to speak meaning, purpose and culture into the creation itself, ("..the Lord God formed every beast...and brought them to the man to see what he would call them"). Thus we can see that the purpose of our collective existence is to create authentic community, nurture and cultivate our environment, and by our words and actions, bring to further life and fruition the culture around us, the good things that the creator has put under our care and responsibility.
This creation story therefore provides the foundation for the establishment of a God-honoring justice system, recognizing the fundamental God-image of all people, and therefore implying that everyone should be treated with dignity regardless of their deeds. We can denounce acts of inhumanity and harm (both crime and violent punishment) and still treat those who harm others as humans with respect, created in the image of God. We can both "love the sinner and hate the sin" and thereby fulfill the vision of the creator for humans to be the cultivators and partakers of flourishing community. The following reflections will explore these questions: How do we live out a creative and compassionate approach to crime that honors both victims and offenders and leads to holistic peace (shalom)? This is what I refer to as Bayanihan Justice, and in fact we already have the resources on hand here in the Philippines to achieve it. However it will require an entirely new way of thinking and doing justice for this transformation to occur.
Jeremy Simons was born and raised in the Philippines and has been a resident of Davao City since 2008 working as a peace and reconciliation advocate. He is a Roman Catholic teaching conflict transformation at an Evangelical seminary, along with other institutions and NGOs. He spends the majority of time in restorative justice and peace accompaniment with Lumad First Nations and Muslim communities in Mindanao. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of any institution, church, denomination or group.
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