President Rodrigo Duterte has named at least 157 judges, mayors, police and military officers who were supposedly involved in the trade of illegal drugs.
The list, released on Sunday, will not be the last; lawmakers and governors will be named in the next round of revelations. Weeks ago, three active and two retired police generals as well as a municipal mayor were tagged for their narcotics links.
The President directed the judges to report to the Supreme Court and the police and military officers to their mother units. Mayors, he said, would be stripped of their security escorts and would lose authority over the local police.
Some of those named have come forward. They insist on their innocence, saying they welcomed a thorough investigation to clear their names.
The President keeps his list close to his chest, says a Palace spokesman. Apparently, so close that only he knows about how the information was gathered and validated. In fact, he said, he takes personal responsibility for it.
Some names may be accurate, some may not. It turns out that some of those named on the list have been dead for years. A Palace spokesman admitted as much—that the list may not be updated.
For the still-living officials who had been named, accuracy is irrelevant. They have been shamed already. The guilty ones must have pondered the likelihood of their deeds catching up with them, however they loudly protest their innocence. Those who are innocent—if any of them ever are—would have suffered the blow to their reputation, the stigma to their families, the backlash on their careers and the danger to their lives.
The shame offensive appears to be working too—we are sure that the yet-unnamed officials who do have links to the drug trade are now living their days in utter trepidation. Those still at the crossroads, wondering whether or not to dip their hands into drug money that once seemed so lucrative and so easy to get away with, should beware.
The President has our respect for his decisiveness to name and shame those who profess to be public servants but who turn out serving their own interests, first. This is the general decay that he talked about during his inauguration: not drugs, per se, but the erosion of confidence in the people who are supposed to lead us. These hypocrites should be accorded no less.
We expect a swift legal process to follow, to ensure that the accused have their day in court and are judged as they deserve. The President, a lawyer, must know that the fight is not one of perception, but of hard proof.
Before all this, however, Mr. Duterte must realize he cannot be too casual with his list. It’s a list that spells the difference between life and death, not only for those who are on it but for their families and their constituents.
