The Banality of Evil
By Menelito Mansueto
Before President Duterte took over the helm of national politics, drug abuse has been a big problem. Many adolescents were hooked into illegal substances. Even in the remotest barrio in the Philippines, many youngsters would find immediate and temporary escape in narcotic drugs. I was exposed to these realities early in my adult life seeing friends, neighbors, and former classmates lose their loved ones to mental instability, joblessness, vehicular accidents related to drug use, and worst, loved ones who were into crimes. Out-of-school youths are prone to the illegal drug menace. Schooled youths are not exempted. Typical for an addicted youth was to hide his addiction from his peers and family until he has gone loose.
When I was enrolled at the University of the Philippines around 2016-2017, at the height of Duterte’s popularity, I was surprised to hear from a professor during one lecture in class that in his critical analysis, Duterte was merely creating a public fear on drugs that are simply invented, and the drug menace is not true. I listened to him intently, trying to understand where the man was coming from. This professor has remained unmarried his entire life. He is kind of conservative and somehow so self-contained. But going back to what he just said, that the drug menace is merely fabricated and hyped by the Duterte regime, this opinion of his amuses me so badly. We heard the same from a self-proclaimed writer, Jade Mark Capiñanes.
Understandably, I was inside the activist atmosphere of the auspices of the university, but I could not believe what he just said. That led me to a self-check to see if I was not having a fever or something that could give me an illusory vision, considering my practical knowledge of the drug problem. In my thoughts, maybe this guy must not have heard about the victims of drug addicts and the crimes they commit, including rape. It might even be prudent to give this guy a tour in notorious drug infested places, such as at Pasil in Cebu or in Lawis of Ozamiz.
There are probably many people like him who have turned so aloof to “not” know of the realities outside of their own world. Hence, we cannot blame them for how they had become so unsupportive of the drug war, unaware of the huge problem. But knowing this pretext of drug incidence, the Filipinos will most likely vote for a daring persona like Duterte. In this way, I disagree with the opinion of this so called writer. I do not favor Extra Judicial Killings, but I think it is not correct to deny the drug menace.
Moving forward in this conversation, how could General Nicolas Torre 3 treat Duterte as if the former President is a criminal? He reminds me of Hannah Arendt's “banality of evil.” General Torre apathetically follows orders from the President, even to the point of harassing the people of Davao. For Arendt, evil is so banal that we tend not to question the prudence of one’s actions, even when following orders. For Arendt, men like the good general points to the duty of following orders from his higher ups, like a bull on ‘blinders’. With this banality, evil becomes normal/ordinary.
Under what moral authority does Europe, the International Criminal Court, or the West, have on a former President of the Philippines’? This just reminds me of four centuries of colonial rule. The world and its global citizens who are now watching the Duterte trial are decent enough to realize the cunning type of politics behind this. This is not justice but vengeance. This is no more than messy politics. If you don’t consider these people moral hypocrites, then tell me, what are they?
- Menelito Mansueto is a Professor at MSU-IIT and author of Decolonial Turn in the Philippine South
