Friendship in the Time of Tokhang

Incumbent Philippine President Duterte vowed to fight drug trafficking, and this has led to “tokhang.”  Wiktionary defines tokhang as “1. (of a law enforcer) to knock on a suspected drug trafficker or drug addict’s home to persuade them to surrender and stop their illegal activities; 2. (slang) to fall victim to extrajudicial killing…”¹

I have had friends who are drug users.  I do not know of anyone who is a drug pusher.  A very dear friend uses methamphetamine once a month (with occasional 3-month intervals).  I have never witnessed him take drugs because I told him a long time ago that we can not be under the same roof when he is taking prohibited drugs.

Recently, my friend told me that the barangay had told him someone’s looking for him.  He is now in the tokhang watchlist.  My friend and whoever was looking for him have never crossed paths, so far.

My dear friend has visited me a number of times since learning of his inclusion in the watchlist.  He likes to stay outside the gate.  I tell him in jest, “Bullets can pierce the metal gate.  The holes won’t look good on the façade.  Please stay inside.”  Whenever we walk along dark streets, we joke about a rain of bullets welcoming our arrival.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has ended tokhang,² but will the extrajudicial killings stop?

Blood relatives have told me not to associate with my friend anymore; at the very least, I should only go out with him during the day when extrajudicial killings are not rampant.  Their words fell on deaf ears.

A week or so ago during dinner with his two former tenants (my friend has rooms for rent), I told my friend to collect my body in case I get killed – and he gets to escape – because of the vigilante or extrajudicial killer gunning for him.  He should at the very least tell my folks about the incident so that I can be given proper suprema dona.³  The two tenants laughed about what I said because my delivery was light.  We laughed about other things after that declaration of friendship.

I can sense my family’s fear for my life when I’m with him.  But, we still go out even when night falls.

I believe – and do not believe – in a lot of things.  But, friendships tempered by love transcend beliefs and mortality.

Notes

¹”Tokhang.”  Wiktionary: The free dictionary, 5 Oct. 2017.  Web.  15 Oct. 2017.  <en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=tokhang&oldid=47663584>.

²Emmanuel Tupas.  “PNP Ends Tokhang, Double Barrel.”  Headlines.  The Philippine Star, 13 Oct. 2017.  Web.  15 Oct. 2017.  <www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/10/13/1748255/pnp-ends-tokhang-double-barrel>.

³Latin phrase that means funeral rites.  Suprema as a stand-alone word may mean a number of things like super, superwoman, last, greatest, etc.  Dona as a stand-alone may mean gift, offering, etc.  In short, suprema dona may also mean last gifts.  Remember the importance of context in translation.