ESSAY PROJECT

11- Piaget
MALIGO, MARIA ERIKA
MR. JERIKO ARLEGUI

ABSTRACT
 We should stop killing people who are addicted in drugs, mostly people
who are not using drugs at all. Rather than killing them, let's put them in a
nice rehab center for changes and not evolve innocent people who died
because of war on drugs.

No to same sex marriage, agree to same sex civil union. Let's remember
the children who needs mother, who needs father and children who wants
family.

Let's legalize marijuana in Philippines for medical uses only for the people
who have disease and cancer to cure them.

No to death penalty, let's give people a second chance since all of us do

mistakes and not perfect at all. But it depends to the criminal or murderer,
give a second chance to the people who deserve second chance.

Yes to zoos prohibition. If we really want to save animal lives, we need

them to take back to their natural habitats.

DUTERTE'S WAR ON DRUGS

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 Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has carried out a "War on drugs"

on June 30, 2016, that has resulted in the extrajudicial death of thousand of

alleged drug delaers and user across the country. The policy is aimed at "the

neutralization of illegal drug personalities nationwide". Many people said it’s

not right to kill people but President Duterte says that drug dealing and drug

addiction is so common in our country and other says it’s okay to kill people

who is using drugs.

By early December, nearly 6,000 people had been killed: about 2,100

have died in police operations and the remainder in what are called “deaths

under investigation,” which is shorthand for vigilante killings. There are also

claims that half a million to seven hundred thousand people have surrendered

themselves to the police. More than 40,000 people have been arrested. So

many people are killed because of drugs and the other people who killed are

not using a drugs at all.

The dominant drug in the Philippines is a variant of methamphetamine

called shabu. According to a 2012 United Nations report, among all the

countries in East Asia, the Philippines had the highest rate of

methamphetamine abuse.

Estimates showed that about 2.2 percent of Filipinos between the ages

of sixteen and sixty-four were using methamphetamines, and that

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methamphetamines and marijuana were the primary drugs of choice. In 2015,

the national drug enforcement agency reported that one fifth of the

barangays, the smallest administrative division in the Philippines, had

evidence of drug use, drug trafficking, or drug manufacturing; in Manila, the

capital, 92 percent of the barangays had yielded such evidence. And that's

why President Duterte implemented war on drugs in the Philippines.

The Philippine judicial system is very slow and perceived as corrupt,

enabling Duterte to act proactively and address the issue of drugs in a non-

constructive way with widespread violations of human rights. Moreover, in the

face of a corrupt, elite-dominated political system and a slow, ineffective, and

equally corrupt judicial system, people are willing to tolerate this politician

who promised something and is now delivering.

There are no trials, so there is no evidence that the people being killed

are in fact drug dealers or drug addicts. This situation shows the weakness of

human rights institutions and discourse in the face of a popular and skilled

populist leader. It is different from college students being arrested under the

Marcos regime or activists being targeted under the first Aquino

administration, when popular outcry was aroused.

Drug dealers and drug addicts are a stigmatized group, and stigmatized

groups always have difficulty gaining political support for the defense of their

rights. President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs in the Philippines is morally

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and legally unjustifiable. Resulting in egregious and large-scale violations of

human rights, it amounts to state-sanctioned murder. According to the

Amnesty International (2018), they called on Duterte to end his drug war and

enforce a policy that “puts the protection of people’s health and rights at the

center,” among others. The UN HRC, it said, should “adopt a resolution to

create an independent, impartial and effective investigation into human rights

violations in the context of the ‘war on drugs,’ including into the commission

of crimes under international law, to establish the facts and circumstances,

and take steps toward ensuring justice for the victims and their families.”

In the Philippines, where four in five citizens identify as Catholic, the

church has emerged as the most prominent voice of dissent against the drug

war. The church is also under perpetual assault from a president intent on

contesting the very essence of Philippine Catholicism. In a country where

vigilante executions have become commonplace, this work is perilous at best;

Catholic leaders who speak out are often inundated with death threats,

sometimes from Duterte himself. Since December, 2017, three Filipino priests

have been killed in mysterious circumstances.

Smart policies for addressing drug retail markets look very different than

the violence and state-sponsored crime President Duterte has thrust upon the

Philippines. Rather than state-sanctioned extrajudicial killings and mass

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incarceration, policing retail markets should have several objectives: The first,

and most important, is to make drug retail markets as non-violent as possible.

The mass killings and imprisonment in the Philippines will not dry up

demand for drugs: the many people who will end up in overcrowded prisons

and poorly-designed treatment centers (as is already happening) will likely

remain addicted to drugs, or become addicts. There is always drug smuggling

into prisons and many prisons are major drug distribution and consumption

spots.

Rather than killing people, let just give another chance to the people who

are addicted in drugs or the pusher. Maybe they just do that because they

have reason like they have anxiety or they have no money. Let's put them in

a better rehab center to treat them.

Reference:

Sapin,L.(2019)https://www.hrw.org. Manila, Philippines

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 Nacthwey, J. (2019) https://time.com/philippines-drug-war. Manila,

Philippines

Adam, W (2019) https://www.theguardian.com. Manila, Philippines

SAME SEX MARRIAGE

Same-sex marriage is currently one of the most divisive political issues

in our nation. Same-sex marrage is the union of two individuals of the same

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sex in a marital relationship, with the full legal rights and responsibilities

allotted to this contract in a given jurisdiction. It has been legalized in in

twenty-seven countries, including the United States, and civil unions are

recognized in many Western democracies. Yet same-sex marriage remains

banned in many countries, and the expansion of broader lesbian, gay,

bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights has been uneven globally.

The Philippines is one of the most gay-friendly nations in Asia.The

Supreme Court has dismissed a petition that sought to allow same-sex

marriage in the Philippines. The fight to legalize same-sex marriage in the

Philippines has always been put to uncertainty due to the dominance of

Catholic belief in the country and the legislation. The Catholic Church

prohibits sexual activity between members of the same sex. Homosexuality

is considered a sin according to the Holy Bible as said in Leviticus 18:22

which says “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is

abomination”. This would mean that same sex marriage is an abomination in

the eyes of the Lord.

Marriage is, was, and always will be the union of one man and one woman

in a permanent, faithful and fruitful union. Homosexual unions can never

become marriage since they biologically cannot be open to children. There is

no fruitfulness in same sex ‘marriages’. No legal decision can change this.

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Adoption and artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization or surrogate

parenthood are not viable means to render a relationship capable of married

fecundity.

Calling something marriage does not make it marriage. Marriage has

always been a covenant between a man and a woman which is by its nature

ordered toward the procreation and education of children and the unity and

wellbeing of the spouses. The promoters of same-sex “marriage” propose

something entirely different. They propose the union between two men or two

women. This denies the self-evident biological, physiological, and

psychological differences between men and women which find their

complementarity in marriage.

This is the most important reason. Whenever one violates the natural moral

order established by God, one sins and offends God. Same-sex “marriage”

does just this. Accordingly, anyone who professes to love God must be

opposed to it.

This violate the natural law, marriage is not just any relationship between

human beings. It is a relationship rooted in human nature and thus governed

by natural law. It always denies a child either a mother or father, It is in the

child’s best interests that he be raised under the influence of his natural father

and mother and same-sex “marriage” ignores a child’s best interests.

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 President Rodrigo Duterte said that he supported same-sex civil unions,

but not same-sex marriages. Calling it "union" instead of "marriage" seems to

be a popular compromise among groups within the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,

Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI). It would grant them the same

civil rights, but it would reduce the opposition of conservatives who don't want

to call it a marriage.

According to Supreme Court Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio(June

2018), "Two people of the same sex can have an agreement regarding

property, successional rights, and all other rights, and that's not

unconstitutional, and if that's embodied in a law, that's even stronger, but it

does not go against your position that marriage is between a man and a

woman," Carpio said.

Marriage isn't substantially about "not wanting gay sex". It's about

knowing that children (EVERY HUMAN BEING WHO HAS EVER LIVED) and their

parents, are uniquely and inseparably connected; and protecting the

relationship which embodies that truth; and holding to that truth that is

binding on all of humanity for the sake of all civilization. That is the most

significant component of the anti-"gay marriage" stance and should not be

diluted or diminished.
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References:

Cstreet (2019) https://www.catholicaction.org/same_sex_marriage. Manila,

Philippines

Wang, A (2019) https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/same-sex-marriage.

Manila Philippines

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 LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANAS

Marijuana refers to the dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds from the

Cannabis sativa or Cannabis indica plant. Marijuana is the most commonly

used illicit drug in the United States. When marijuana is smoked, THC and

other chemicals in the plant pass from the lungs into the bloodstream, which

rapidly carries them throughout the body to the brain. The person begins to

experience effects almost immediately. Many people experience a pleasant

euphoria and sense of relaxation. Other common effects, which may vary

dramatically among different people, include heightened sensory perception

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(e.g., brighter colors), laughter, altered perception of time, and increased

appetite.

Lawmakers approve a bill legalizing medical marijuana in the

Philippines. The law classifies marijuana as a dangerous drug, but Section 16

allows medical laboratories and medical research centers to cultivate

marijuana, opium poppy, as well as similar plants and materials "for medical

experiences and research purposes."

Many people are those who oppose it, “So, you want more drug abuse

in the Philippines?” one inquired. Another contemplated: “Cigarettes are more

harmful than cannabis. So legal is not always ethical.”

Marijuana plant contains chemicals that may help treat a range of

illnesses and symptoms, many people argue that it should be legal for medical

purposes. In fact, a growing number of states have legalized marijuana for

medical use. The DOH would also be tasked to create an advisory committee

on the medical use of cannabis, tasked to implement the provisions under HB

6517. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, meanwhile, would be in

charge of monitoring and regulating the use of medical cannabis in health

facilities.

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 Marijuana can help cure diseases, including cancer, glaucoma, and

AIDS. Other people claim that it is a great stress reliever and a useful medicine

for pain. Even doctors prescribed this drug to people who have problems in

sleeping and eating. Imagine, those who suffer that kind of diseases and can

take their lives, the marijuana can help cure the diseases and decrease the

number of people who diead in that kind of diseases.

According to Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri said the substance is used in

treating patients suffering from debilitating conditions, such as epilepsy.

"Honestly, I’m okay with it because I know some of my friends whose children

have epilepsy and it saved them," he said. But Senator Grace Poe is likewise

worried about the enforcement of any such law in the country "because it can

be abused." She noted, lawmakers have not had a "full-blown hearing" on this

matter.

According to Senator Frace Poe, ""If you have marijuana that’s so

accessible, people will just stay na lang siguro at home and bench out. I’m

just saying, unless it’s probably dispensed in a hospital, under supervision,

maybe," she told ANC's Headstart.

Cannabis has properties known to be therapeutic to many illnesses and

this has been the driving factor of many lawmakers including the President to

support legalizing cannabis but limited to medical use.

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 If the government and the people who are oppose to it in legalizing the

marijuana in our country because many youth can use this, they should worry

more about youth who are addicted to alcohol because using alcohol many

people died but using marijuan it is zero percent. It is actually easier for many

high school students to obtain marijuana than it is for them to obtain alcohol,

because alcohol is legal and therefore regulated to keep it away from kids.

If our goal is to reduce drug consumption, then we should focus on open

and honest programs to educate youth, regulation to keep drugs away from

kids, and treatment programs for people with drug problems. But the current

prohibition scheme does not allow such reasonable approaches to marijuana;

instead we are stuck with 'DARE' police officers spreading lies about drugs in

schools, and policies that result in jail time rather than treatment for people

with drug problems.

We tried prohibition with alcohol, and that failed miserably. We should

be able to learn our lesson and stop repeating the same mistake. We should

legalize marijuana in terms of medical use only so that many people can be

cured to disease and cancer. We can save many lives because of marijuana.

The government should just take care of this by medical use only.

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References:

Tacio, H (2018) https://businessmirror.com.ph. Manila, Philippines

Quijano, M (2017) https://www.change.org. Manila, Philippines

ABS-CBN News (2018) https://news.abs-cbn.com/news. Manila, Philippines

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 DEATH PENALTY

The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading

punishment. Amnesty opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception

- regardless of who is accused, the nature or circumstances of the crime, guilt

or innocence or method of execution. If the history of capital punishment in

the Philippines is any indication, its imposition has always proven to be a

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regressive step, both in dealing with criminality and in assigning value to

human dignity.

The death penalty is not a deterrent because most people who commit

murders either do not expect to be caught or do not carefully weigh the

differences between a possible execution and life in prison before they act.

The death penalty is a denial of the most basic human rights; it violates one

of the most fundamental principles under widely accepted human rights law—

that states must recognize the right to life.

According to human rights, It based approach does not take issue with

the accuracy, technique, or timeliness of an execution. It provides a strict

standard with which to say simply and unequivocally—the death penalty is

wrong.

Even the Amnesty International oppose to it. Amnesty International holds

that the death penalty breaches human rights, in particular the right to life

and the right to live free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading

treatment or punishment.

There have been and always will be cases of executions of innocent people.

No matter how developed a justice system is, it will always remain susceptible

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to human failure. Unlike prison sentences, the death penalty is irreversible

and irreparable. The death penalty violates the right to life which happens to

be the most basic of all human rights. It also violates the right not to be

subjected to torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or

punishment. Furthermore, the death penalty undermines human dignity which

is inherent to every human being.

The Philippines is one of 140 countries that have abolished the death

penalty either in law or in practice, as part of a global trend away from capital

punishment (Amnesty International, 2015, cited in “The Death Penalty

Worldwide”).

According to Eddie Villanueva, Jesus Is Lord Church founder and newly

installed Deputy Speaker of the House, the death penalty is allowed in the

Bible for heinous crimes, but he would not support it under the current state

of the criminal justice system in the country.

Catholic leaders in the Philippines are calling on Catholics and lawmakers

to resist President Rodrigo Duterte’s call to revive the death penalty. Church

leaders have said that despite his claims of success, Duterte has helped bring

about “the most trying period in the nation’s history.”

"A vision of a country where peace and justice reigns, sovereignty is

cherished and human rights are upheld ... has been sliding into oblivion," an

ecumenical group said in a statement, according to UCA News. The Catholic

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Church remains opposed to the death penalty amid renewed calls for its

reimposition after a teen from Cebu was murdered.“Death is and will never be

an answer to the killings going on in the country,” Rodolfo Diamante,

executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines-

Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care (CBCP-ECPPC) said.

Let's give a second chance to the people who are criminal or murderer.

Criminals do deserve a second chance. I would even give a death row inmate

a second chance by sending them to help fight the wars, providing they are

not true psycho/socio paths. People make mistakes, some people lose control

and mess up bad.

Some people don’t deserve and will never deserve to be around their

community but they can still gain some use out of their life after the fact.

People do need monitoring after they are given that second chance though.

Don’t blindly let them into your lives. People change but they also rely on the

things they know how to do. A thief will rely on being a thief when they don’t

see any other choice.

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References:

https://www.pap.org.ph/position-paper/reinstituting-death-penalty

https://www.amnesty.org.au/campaigns/end-the-death-penalty/#action

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 ZOOS PROHIBITION

A zoo also called an animal park or menagerie is a facility in which all

animals are housed within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which

they may also breed. In zoo, people can see wild, beautiful, exotic animals.

They can see how animals live and behave. Animals have good life conditions

in zoos, they do not starve because they have food and water. People take

care of animals. Moreover, animals are safe.

On the other hand, keeping animals in zoos is harmful for them. The

animals are forced to live in a unnatural habitat. There is not enough living

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space in the zoos, when often makes animals unhappy and restless. Animlas

should live in freedom, because it is their natural haitat. Moreover, animals in

the zoos live under stress. The worst thing is that animals in the zoos will

never be able to exsist in their natural habitat alone. They have will not any

chance to survive.

Animals in zoos suffer all manner of neurological disorders—from anxiety

to depression and OCD—that they don’t seem to suffer from in in the wild,

plus physical effects from the lack of adequate space, disastrous inbreeding

and troubling repetitive behavior.

Nearly 500 animals had died within a three-year period at the United

Kingdom’s South Lakes Safari Zoo. Bon Su, a beloved elephant at the

Melbourne Zoo whose death raised questions about whether the animal’s

debilitating arthritis was a direct result of zoo conditions.

In Philippines, Bertha’s life at the Manila Zoo was one full of boredom,

misery and deprivation. It’s a tragedy that she only realized freedom through

death, and other animals imprisoned in zoos, including Mali the elephant,

continue to suffer. They are denied everything that’s natural to them, and

every aspect of their lives is manipulated and controlled. They are told when

they will eat, what they will eat, when they can sleep, and who they can mate

with.
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 Their enclosures, like Bertha’s was, are tiny fractions of the size of their

natural habitats, and their specific needs are neglected. This cruelty will end

only when animals are no longer held as living “exhibits,” which won’t happen

until people refuse to patronize zoos.

According to Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

(CITES), CITES agrees on near-total ban on sending wild elephants to zoos.

Animals should definitely not be kept in cages because it’s not their natural

habitat. If it’s in a cage it usually has been parted from its family. Animals

who are kept in cages will never know what its like to be free, hunt and live

in is natural habitat. They cannot get the protein they would get hunting and

being able to explore the wild.

If we want animals to be protected, we need to safeguard their natural

habitats, reform animal rights laws, and create sanctuaries for the ones that

do need saving. We need to recognize that tigers, polar bears, parrots, and

even gross possums and basic AF woodchucks have rights, and find ways to

appreciate these creatures without constantly using them.

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 There’s not much in the way of concrete evidence that zoos actually help

to educate the public, nor that their function as a conservation tool is all that

powerful. And let’s be honest, we could still work to save animals and their

habits if we closed all the zoos by creating nature preserves and engaging in

less intrusive activities like whale watching.

If we really want to save animals, we need them to put in their natural

habitats. We can not really say that zoo can take care of them well. Let's give

them a nice life just like they give to us. Without them, we can not live longer

because of their habitat, what else if their habitat are no longer exist then we

really don't know if we can live longer. BAN ZOOOOSSS

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References:

https://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/arts-and-culture/232314-detours-

behind-closed-doors-manila-zoo

https://splinternews.com/ban-zoos-1819982009/amp

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