President Rodrigo Duterte correctly identified the drug menace as the root cause of the ills of the nation.
Murders, rapes, theft and violence are, more often than not, committed by individuals who are hooked on drugs so badly, they have lost their fundamental sense of humanity.
The illicit drug trade yields so much money, its revenues are enough to corrupt lawmakers and law enforcers alike. When lawmakers and law enforcers themselves are the ones involved in the narcotics trade, the concept of law and order as civilized society knows it disintegrates.
Indeed, when drug syndicates buy protection from government officials and the police, they do so with very large sums of money—so large, indeed, that honest officials drawing a government salary will find it hard not to get tempted. Considering the high cost of living today, that is not far-fetched.
Several weeks ago, the news media reported a bungled attempt to smuggle P6.4 billion worth of narcotics from Communist China into the country through the Bureau of Customs. That the smuggling attempt was discovered and exposed and the drug shipment (or part of it anyway) were confiscated is not the point. What is alarming is that the shipment actually got past our customs bureau!
Another unsettling example is the scandal that happened last year at the New Bilibid Prison, the national penitentiary.
Under the watch of then Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, and with what seems like her acquiescence, convicted drug lords doing time inside prison walls were having a such grand time while in detention that the word “penitentiary” is no longer descriptive of the prison.
The drug lords had spacious, air-conditioned living quarters, restaurant-catered food, and unlimited access to television, mobile phones, social media, and the Internet. They had facilities for private entertainment, and even a small gymnasium for their private use. The news media even reported that these high-end prisoners had regular access to firearms, narcotics, cash, and prostitutes.
Many prison guards, with the tacit consent of prison officials, served as waiters and errand boys for the drug lords.
The privileged status of the drug lords and their minions was possible because these organized criminals had so much money from the illicit drug trade that they could afford circumventing even the prison system itself. Obviously, drug money can now subvert the very concept of punishment for one’s crimes, and undermine the saying that “crime does not pay.”
Good grief! Drug dealers enjoy a life of privilege whether inside the pen or out of it. That’s a win-win situation for organized crime!
When he assumed the presidency, President Duterte lived up to his campaign promise. He launched an all-out war against the drug menace, and his efforts proved so effective that junkies surrendered en masse. Even government officials and police figures identified by Malacañang for alleged involvement in the drug trade submitted themselves to police authorities for investigation. A large drug rehabilitation facility was established out of town for the thousands of drug users who sought rehabilitation.
One interesting result in Duterte’s anti-drug offensive is the admission by many government officials that they are into the drug habit. Quezon City Councilor Hero Bautista, a brother of Mayor Herbert Bautista, publicly admitted his drug dependence and has gone on leave for rehabilitation. How that drug habit escaped the attention of the city mayor remains unexplained by city hall.
By focusing his attention on fighting the drug menace, President Duterte is saving the Philippines from the predicament of narco-republics like Colombia. Because the narcotics trade in Colombia was tolerated by past political regimes, the drug syndicate there led by the notorious Pablo Escobar practically ran the state at the turn of the century. The syndicate summarily eliminated enemies, whether those in the government or those within the syndicate itself.
Considering that known drug dealers lived in luxury, many of Colombia’s youths aspired to join the syndicate, even as two-bit or marginal pushers in order to taste the good life. Nobody was interested in finishing college; one only needed a dogged sense of loyalty to the syndicate’s boss for one to enjoy a privileged status in Colombian society.
By the time Bogota decided to address the narcotics problem, it was too late. Escobar was firmly in place, and he used his ill-acquired wealth to keep the cops away. Although the combined efforts of Colombian and American operatives finally killed Escobar, the people of Colombia will take a long time to reconcile with life without narcotics—Escobar’s drug money, dole outs and donations in particular, had bought so much patronage in Colombian society that it was difficult for many Colombians to even see Escobar as a criminal. For many, he was the godfather to run to for emergencies. Ironically, it was Escobar’s drug trade that made many Colombian citizens remain in abject poverty for decades.
Hopefully, the Philippines still has a chance not to go the way of Colombia. That is only possible if the Filipino people fight the drug menace now.
Fortunately, President Duterte is doing something about it.
Unfortunately, there are sectors opposed to Duterte who will do anything to discredit the President, even it means undermining his anti-drug campaign.
Stragglers in the Liberal Party led by the purported vice president, Leni Robredo, have joined forces with opinionated church leaders and noisy scarecrows of the moribund local communist movement in denouncing the deaths that occurred in the aftermath of the anti-drug campaign. They simply refuse to accept that in any war, there will always be unwanted casualties. They conveniently, however, fail to mention the numerous families and lives permanently destroyed by drug pushers and drug addicts.
Hopefully, President Duterte will ignore these senseless noisemakers and continue his relentless campaign against narcotics. It’s either that, or the Colombian example for this country.