WHEN President Duterte launched his bloody war against illegal drugs, I said that the killing of drug lords and drug pushers would only be half the problem solved.
So long as there are drug addicts—and many of them soon become pushers to finance their habit—there will be demand for illegal drugs, and there will always be supply to meet this demand.
The illegal drug trade is a $100-billion industry worldwide.
Government should, in cooperation with the private sector, build rehabilitation centers where drug users can be rehabilitated so that they become productive members of the society.
Another thing: There must be more jails for those detained on drug-related charges. We are all too familiar with sub-human condition in jails. Inmates have to take turns sleeping. Some sleep on the steps of stairs. The allocation is P50 per day per prisoner.
The Duterte administration needs to address the drug problem and all its components. It’s been 10 months since the campaign began.
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The problem of the Bureau of Immigration—where 32 immigration personnel have resigned and some 300 more are already looking for other jobs —has resulted in much inconvenience to passengers, who have to wait for hours on end. If the issue is not resolved immediately, it can become a national security problem.
It is the non-payment of their overtime work, plus their meal and transportation expenses when they are required to work beyond eight hours.
I believe it’s more than that. Immigration personnel, up to Level 11, get at most only P14,000 a month. An immigration officer gets only P16,000 a month. After all deductions, take-home pay may only be P13,000 a month. My gulay, my driver gets more!
Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno claims that overtime pay is illegal and that the clamor for overtime pay had been stopped. But don’t Diokno and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre know that in September 2011, the Supreme Court ruled that overtime pay must be paid by both local and foreign airlines?
Sadly, this Supreme Court ruling was never implemented by all the Customs commissioners. No finance secretary lifted a finger to help the Customs personnel. More than half of them have since retired.
I cite this Supreme Court ruling because it can also apply to Immigration and Quarantine personnel, who work overtime at the airports.
Secretary Aguirre should look at the Supreme Court ruling to solve the overtime pay of immigration personnel.
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The delay in forging a peace pact between the government and the combined forces of the National Democratic Front, Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army can easily be traced to trust and sincerity. Can the communists be trusted? Are they sincere in having peace with government?
President Duterte has laid four conditions that the NDF-NPA-CPP must accept before a bilateral ceasefire can be achieved. These are: 1) an end to the rebels’ revolutionary taxes, which amount to extortion; 2) the release of all prisoners held by the communists; 3) non-recognition of the communists’ territorial claims; and 4) a signed and binding ceasefire agreement.
President Duterte knows that government has the leverage and must negotiate from a position of strength.
The President is also aware that the communists have been going to the negotiation table with blood on their hands. They always claim that the Armed Forces of the Philippines is at fault when we all know that it’s the NPA that has been killing soldiers and policemen.
I’m not sure if the NDF-NPA-CPP will accept all the four conditions of President Duterte.
Santa Banana, why would the communists claim to have their own territory when the Philippines is one country? And why would the communists continue to extort money from businessmen when that’s pure and simple banditry?
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The Office of the US Trade Representative, in a report, says corruption is prevalent in the Philippines—including the judiciary, and that it remains a significant barrier to trade. This hits at the jugular of the Duterte administration’s fight against corruption.
“Concerns also have been raised about courts being influenced by bribery and their improperly issuing temporary restraining orders [TROs] to impede legitimate commerce,” the USTR report said.
The Bureau of Customs also came under fire by the USTR, especially in valuation of imported goods, so much so that Customs corruption comes to play, especially on imported meat products.
Both the President and Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno should be concerned. They must show that they are doing their best to stamp out corruption in all levels of government.
What people expect from the President is political will to continue his war on corruption. Even his appointees seem to take advantage of their closeness to the powers-that-be.
The people expect no less.