THE DRUG SITUATION IN THE PHILIPPINES
NEEDS IMMEDIATE ACTION BY DUTERTE
By Apolinario Villalobos
SOME detractors will always be detractors, as they are used to just criticizing without looking at the whole picture of a situation. In the case of Duterte’s effort to eliminate the drug menace in the country, what they perceive outright are the killed addicts, drug pushers and drug lords. Their focus is on the “kill”. I doubt if they ever give a damn to the effect of the crime committed by these killed drug personalities. Or, even give a deeper look into the circumstance as to “who” committed the killing because it could be done by drug suppliers or relatives of victims who just want to avenge their loved ones. Instead, these detractors immediately concluded that it is Duterte’s own doing.
These detractors say that instead of focusing on the lowly offenders such as drug addicts and drug pushers on the street, Duterte should give attention to the drug lords. For this contention, a question may be asked as to what will the police do to the drug addict who rapes and kills his victim? How about the drug-deranged robbers who victimize innocent students on their way to school or home?…etc. Drug-related situations call for IMMEDIATE action as they are wantonly done on the street. Unfortunately before, apprehending police themselves would complain about crime perpetrators being bailed out by financiers on the day they are booked.
As regards the drug lords that should be killed instead of the lowly drug addicts and pushers – these drug kingpins are inside the New Bilibid Penitentiary which even before Duterte’s assumption of presidency, have been reeking with anomalies. Drug lords give instructions via cell phones to their cohorts who are concocting drugs on the high seas, remote barangays, and even exclusive subdivision in Manila, or directing delivery of stocks from China. Even before he was elected as president, drug transactions have been going on inside the facility, obviously blessed by those who are supposed to enforce the law. What will Duterte do now that he is the president?…bring these drug lords out of the prison and have them shot one by one in Luneta as what Marcos did to a Chinese drug lord, to scare the would-be drug laboratory operators out of the country? THERE IS NO BUDGET FOR THE IMMEDIATE BUILDING OF REHAB CENTERS IF THIS IS WHAT’S IN THE MIND OF QUIXOTIC DETRACTORS, AS THE BUDGET ON HAND THAT HE INHERITED DOES NOT INCLUDE SUCH PROVISION.
Duterte has been very vocal about the revival of the death penalty which human rights advocates oppose. In this regards, what will he do?…call a prayer meeting of his cabinet secretaries and with all kindness, plan a humane strategy to be approved first by the CBCP and the Commission on Human Rights?…ask evangelists to pray over the drug lords in Bilibid so that they will change their ways? The government that Duterte has inherited is so diseased that it is even doubtful if its agencies have updated Operating Manuals that are supposed to guide them in their day to day operations. On the other hand, many laws are pitifully loop-holed, a situation that intelligent lawyers use to win high-priced and high-profiled cases. These are just some of the situations that met Duterte when he assumed the presidency. It needs a Martial to circumvent all those loop-holed laws and deeply-rooted anomalies, to set things straight.
The drug addicts and pushers have been given a chance via the “Operation Tokhang” which was successful in Davao. Unfortunately, in Manila, those who have been given the chance make a mockery of the law, as after signing the waiver, they went back to their old ways.
Detractors are pinning Duterte down with his deadline to accomplish what he promised to cleanse the country of drug menace in 3-6 months. After finding out the enormous extent of such nuisance he expressed a surprise as obviously he underestimated the drug situation in the country, and as a human being, his predicament deserves understanding…while, on the other hand, the detractors opted not to say a word, as if saying, “good for you!”
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