"This is how you make a menace go away."
"This is how you make a menace go away."
The President’s statement that the Philippine illegal drug problem has worsened instead of improving was a shock to a lot of people. This, after three years of a brutal war against illegal drugs wherein thousands have died with some estimates putting those who have been killed at around 5,000 to 20,000 people.
Since the President is the central repository of all intelligence information in the country, his statement has to be taken seriously. From a figure of 1.7 million estimated drug addicts, it has now ballooned to about 7 million to 8 million today, according to the President. This is in spite of a recent SWS survey saying that the public has been finding less drug addicts in their communities.
If the President’s figure is accurate, it would be a staggering deterioration of the problem. As various experts will tell us, the drug problem is a multi-dimensional problem. Yes, law enforcement is a major part of the solution but not the only one. Other factors come into play as well, such as rehabilitation and medical care.
Whether the President is now prepared to change gears and accept a multi-dimensional approach is hard to say. But judging from his impromptu speeches, it’s hard to expect a change. As the saying goes, “You cannot teach old dogs new tricks.” So, we should expect more of the same approach.
The Philippine National Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the two principal organizations in the anti-drug campaign, came out with muted reactions to the President’s pronouncements. This is which is understandable. After three years of campaigning, their efforts have not dented the problem which must be devastating to the personnel of both organizations.
Part of the problem is that ever since the Chairman of the Dangerous Drugs Board was fired for coming out with a figure contradicting the President’s, no one has dared come out with credible figure as to how many Filipinos are drug addicts. We only have the President’s figure and we do not know where he is getting them.
The President also mentioned the presence of foreign drug cartels and the country becoming a major transshipment point. But these have been known to the police for some time. Whether it has gotten worse is what has to be determined.
In recent weeks, hundreds of kilos of cocaine have been recovered along our shores. This reinforces the President’s claim because majority of Filipinos hooked on drugs prefer methamphetamine, marijuana, and psychedelic drugs. Only a small percentage use cocaine, so the recovered cocaine are most certainly not intended for local consumption. At least not all.
The sensible thing to do would be for all stakeholders to meet and make an objective, professional, and credible evaluation of the current state of the anti-drug war. This should include a credible survey. This will not be an effort to undermine the wishes of the President but the stakeholders will be able to present a well-studied and researched recommendation.
Whether the President takes notice and considers it will depend on how well the position is presented to him. For the PDEA and the PNP to simply wait for further instructions from the President is not the way to go. Both agencies must initiate the next way forward.
With the magnitude of the problem it is prudent to tap other agencies for help. The Department of Health for instance is in a much better position to help draft and implement drug rehabilitation programs. If the figure of the President is accurate, that is about 7.5 percent of the population—which is a lot considering the effort devoted by the law enforcement agencies and the President himself on the problem. I am sure that the PNP and PDEA think otherwise but it is up to them to find a way to convince their boss otherwise.
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To release or not to release. That is now the question being asked whether the government should release the names of persons who have been determined by intelligence agencies to be involved in illegal drugs. Aaron Aquino of PDEA appeared reluctant to release when asked while Oscar Albayalde of the PNP supports the Palace in its desire to release the list.
One wonders why this is still being asked considering that it has already been done before. What is surprising is that there are senior political leaders who support the release of the names.
In this country, there is a doctrine of presumption of innocence. An accused is deemed innocent until proven guilty by a competent court. When a name is released, it is basically a guilty sentence. One is pronounced guilty and then the person has to go about proving his innocence when it should be the other way around. Only when a person is subjected to this kind of situation can he or she understand the problem that another goes through.
Someone from the Palace said that those whose names are released can go to court for redress. But courts only try people who are formally charged and not those who have been pronounced guilty using intelligence reports.
As everyone knows, intelligence reports, no matter how much validation is done, could still be wrong. If the government is so sure, why not file the case? The fact that no cases have been filed means that there are infirmities in the information.
Let us hope that reason will prevail and no release is made. There have been names released in the past who ended up being killed. This is not how you solve a problem.
