President Rodrigo Duterte needs to be careful in his war against illegal drugs. I must admit, however, that he has the political will and resolve to fulfill his vow. He promised to prevent the country from being ruled by narco-politics.
The President has publicly named five generals of the Philippine National Police as protectors of the drug trade. It is likely he has access to all valid intelligence reports given his position. I won’t be surprised if he has enough proof to convict the generals— three in active service, two retired.
Nonetheless, the rule of law and due process presumes that every man—alleged criminals included—are innocent unless proven otherwise by a court of law.
This is also true insofar as the 23 local executives allegedly coddling drug dealers are concerned. Duterte is a lawyer; I am sure he is well aware of this.
What bothers me more is the spate of killings of alleged drug dealers nationwide. The suspected pushers allegedly engage law enforcers in shootouts and encounters. Some are accused of grabbing the guns of cops while they were in the latter’s custody.
There are also reports of vigilante killings of alleged drug pushers.
It does seem that this culture of violence and impunity started by Duterte’s war on drugs is spinning out of control. Will the Philippines end up as the killing fields in the region?
Considering the fact that we still live in a democracy where the rule of law and due process are held sacrosanct, all these killings of alleged drug dealers must be balanced by awareness of human and civil rights due everyone under the law.
This is why I do not believe that Duterte’s promise to end the drug menace between three and six months cannot be achieved. We still live in a democratic space and the President must not sacrifice the rule of law just because he has a promise to fulfill. The end can never justify the means.
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It has also been reported that the total number of drug addicts, pushers and dependents-turned-pushers who have surrendered or been arrested by authorities have already risen to more than 3,000 nationwide. They are reportedly packed in already-congested jails. What to do with them is one problem—local governments must also feed them.
Another problem is how to rehabilitate them. Isolating them or making them dance the zumba for detoxification will not rehabilitate them. They must become useful and productive citizens again.
This is where the real problem begins. The national government and the LGUs do not have enough facilities to rehabilitate drug addicts. We also do not have enough psychiatrists and psychologists to help them. Rehabilitation is a long-term process; it is not achieved overnight.
As I said earlier, getting rid of the drug pushers is only one-half of the problem. As long as there is a demand for illegal drugs, the dealers will continue to provide the supply. Drug lords belonging to the Chinese triad and the West African syndicates, who have already made the country a transshipment point of illegal drugs, know this.
Let’s go back some 40 years ago when drug lord Lim Seng was executed through firing squad. Did that stop the resurgence of illegal drugs in 80s and 90s? It did not. Demand remained high.
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Just when we thought that the infamous pork barrel system had been killed by the Supreme Court, through its declaration that it was illegal, here we go again under the Duterte administration. Congressmen will be getting as much as P80 million from the previous P70 million. Senators will get their usual P200 million or even more.
The P80 million for the House of Representatives consists of P50 million for so-called “hard projects” or infrastructure—a P10 million increase from previous years—and P30 million for “soft projects” like scholarships and medical assistance.
To be sure, these allotments will no longer be in lump sums. They will be identified before the enactment of the 2017 national budget. But it’s still pork barrel, the same dog but with a different collar. It’s still political patronage at taxpayers’ expense.
In effect, there would be no real change if this pushes through. What would happen, then, to the change that was promised us? Change in Congress? That’s a lot of baloney!
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President Duterte made a lot of disturbing statements about the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Moro National Liberation Front and the Abu Sayyaf Group.
Duterte said that if the people reject his push for federalism, he will have the Bangsamoro Basic Law, which is constitutionally flawed, and consider it a mere local law. He would give the MNLF the same benefits as the MILF would get.
What? Have a law that is bound to be challenged before the Supreme Court enacted?
Duterte also said that the Abu Sayyaf is not criminal. Not criminal, Mr. President, when the Abus kidnap, behead and terrorize people? The Abus are more than criminals—they are savages and terrorists! The government must deal with them as such.
