At a press conference Monday, Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa said the government is waging war against a new enemy: Illegal gambling.
The announcement is based on Executive Order No. 13 issued last week by President Rodrigo Duterte. The order directs the PNP, the National Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies to intensify the campaign against illegal gambling in all its forms. They are expected to coordinate with the Department of Justice, Department of Information and Communication Technology and Department of the Interior and Local Government.
The campaign will target gambling operators and local government officials who, at best, do not do anything to stop gambling in their jurisdictions and at worst profit from its operation. The campaign against high-value targets will be carried out in one-time-big-time efforts, whatever that means.
Dela Rosa is also quick to assure the people this new war will not be bloody even as it will use the same “tokhang” (knocking and then pleading) approach.
A disclaimer, of course: It won’t be bloody unless targets use deadly arms to evade or fight policemen during the course of the crackdown. In fact, Dela Rosa said, he has already directed all police directors to follow the executive order and “strike hard” against all forms of illegal gambling.
The campaign is expected to start next week once the implementing guidelines of the order are released.
We have no quarrel with the fact that illegal gambling has bred much corruption and has had negative effects on the way Filipinos live. Indeed it must be combatted for consigning people to a fatalistic view of success while enriching the private operators who do not even remit part of their earnings to the government.
Then again, we feel the same way about the war on illegal drugs. It’s a menace that must be eradicated, or at least minimized.
But we express the same wariness—distrust—that the same people tasked to implement the order will get heady with their authority and simply do as they please. After all, was not the anti-drug campaign suspended because of reports of police abuse? Now that cops have just been given a new, but similar assignment, what guarantee do we have that they won’t just be continuing with their merry ways?
The government has just started another war. We worry it will be like the last one: Unfinished, prone to abuse and ultimately unsuccessful.