Illegal drugs and the nation’s raging fever

OUR body has evolved through the ages as a complex structure with the basic instincts to survive and perpetuate itself. Survival means defending itself against all threats, internal and external. Internal threats are those emanating from organisms existing within the body, which are no longer in synch with the body’s rhythms. The external foes, on the other hand, are other beings who may see the body’s destruction or subjugation as paths to their own advancement or survival.

As our body reacts, so also does a nation – human beings existing as one body of people because of their common roots, sentiments, traditions, history, and laws. The body fights infections through its skin, mucous membranes, blood, and an overarching immune system controlled by the brain. A nation uses its constitution, laws, governmental structure, culture, history, and traditions to maintain its existence, integrity, and the people’s way of life.

An infection affecting the body triggers its immune system which leads the fight for the body’s survival. This confrontation many times brings fever or inflammation with it, together with pain and many other discomforts. When the invading infection, on the other hand, is left unchecked or when the immune system fails, the invader triumphs, often leading to the body’s disability or even ultimate death. A nation, as a body of people, can similarly suffer.

As an independent republic, our nation has had experiences with its own threatening infections. We have been confronted by a Communist rebellion that at one point almost reached Manila. We effectively countered it, leaving the rebellion’s armed adherents confined to propaganda and to small-scale attacks, while many others sought more peaceful means of achieving their ends.

In physical body terms, our national immune system fought a major infection and won.

For a long time thereafter, we were confronted only by the occasional recurrence of the Communist insurgency, by terrorist incidents, and by common crimes that the government could reasonably keep in check, until the illegal drugs menace came.

The nation’s current illegal drug problem differs from all its past problems because of the money involved. While the smuggling and gambling of yesteryears also yielded enormous yields, profits from illegal drugs are way beyond compare. Past illegalities could buy off local and even some national offices and officials; illegal drugs carry the potential of capturing even our central seat of government if given the chance.

History teaches us that in the 19th century, Britain brought China to its knees by subverting the people’s will through opium. This is one history lesson Filipinos should learn from and never forget.

When President Duterte assumed office, the drug problem was already in epidemic proportions but the public was largely unaware of its depth and extent; even the media largely saw it, like jueteng of yesteryears, as a simple police problem.

President Duterte, to his credit, recognized the problem for what it is. He thus attacked it in his own way and even dramatized his mode of fighting it. The Duterte way found popular support since the common masa saw what was happening in their neighborhoods and realized the problem’s ultimate impact on their lives. Though some were hesitant, many openly welcomed President Duterte’s fight and said so in the surveys.

The Duterte approach has been simple: he verbalized – through his distinct and unusual communication style – the problem and its scope, and responded in a way people understood. The majority cheered, although a good number also frowned because of the government’s imperfect implementation and the accompanying incidental violence.

Today, the fever that the illegal drug problem has brought the nation still rages. While the drug infection has begun to recede in some localities, the drug lords are holding on and the fight continues to be relentless; violence continues to rise. Only time will tell if the government’s approach shall in the long run bring relief or shall prejudice the nation.

In the meanwhile, the players in the nation’s never-ending game of politics closely watch. Those opposing the President, seeing that his unconventional approach is not beyond reproach but is succeeding, cry out to high heavens that the President is making a mockery of the rule of law and is bringing the nation to grave peril.

Whatever may be its merits, this cry does not entitle those opposing the President to bring the nation’s current fever to a higher level by seeking his extralegal ouster, in the way done in the past; the same rule of law the opposition invokes provides for appropriate ways and means for redress.

The opposition must realize that by instinct, the concern for survival is always top and foremost; both the physical body and the nation may and can summon conventional and unconventional means within their control to survive serious threats to their well-being.

Woe to the nation and its people if violent politics-based strife would erupt; conflicts of this nature could result in deep and lasting wounds that could take time to heal, if they would heal at all. Our 1986 and 2001 experiences are not necessarily repeatable and a miscalculation could gravely harm the nation itself.

The welfare of the people, not power, should always be our motivating goal. Power, too, comes only through the ballot. The reverse of these dicta is dangerous to our democracy. I can only hope that everyone would occasionally pause to focus, not on petty power stakes, but on the interests of the whole society on whose existence our future all depends.

When fever rages in the nation, all of us should be part of the national immune system in resisting the threatening infection as our compact with each other provides. Only through this approach can we have a healthy and functioning society that allows us – whether rich or poor – to enjoy our desired way of life.