Drug war turning dirty?

President Rody Duterte’s war against illegal drugs started with a bang! (Or shall we say with a bang... bang... bang.) But of late, the campaign is mired in so much controversy that it probably needs a systems re-set.

No thanks to those whom Bato de la Rosa collectively refers to as “mga siga, bastos at undisciplined”--the rogue cops. Poor Bato can only publicly cry in shame as he admitted this during a Senate inquiry. But didn’t he know this from the very start? From day one, President Rody had them in his so-called drug matrix. In fact, the President flaunted several matrices before the media. There was one list for cops, another for politicians and other persons of influence.

One list identified “narco cops” at all levels of the police hierarchy from the lowly SPO3s to the star-studded officers. And what did Bato, as the President’s chief enforcer, do about it? Only Bato can answer that.

One can not dispute the President’s zeal when he declared his all-out war against drugs. He campaigned on a promise to rid the country of illegal drugs (in 3 months, mind you) and legions believed him.

His message was clear. There would be zero tolerance for drugs. And woe to anybody who would try to prevent him, or even just publicly criticize him, in his crusade. His livid reaction to public detractors was both intimidating and chilling.

As he shocked and awed the people during the initial months of his presidency, President Rody’s popularity stayed in the high 80’s. Rightly or wrongly, the President interpreted this as a sweeping mandate to pursue, in any way and in any manner, what he needed to do.

He hopped from camp to camp, reaching out to the police and army grass roots. He assured them of total support--and even immunity against undue criminal prosecution. There were talks of “pre-signed pardons” for those who would be wrongly charged because of their participation in the drug war.

“I will never allow anyone of you to go to jail for doing your job,’’ he assured his shock(ed) troops.

To the lowly policeman or soldier, the message could not have been any clearer. It was a carte blanche.

To the rogues in uniform, who had been in the drug trade, it was a perfect cover to silence the competition or others who might incriminate them.

At the same , it continued to provide a lucrative opportunity to extort from just about anybody. Sen. Ping Lacson has the videos to prove it.

His message was clear. There would be zero tolerance for drugs. And woe to anybody who would try to prevent him, or even just publicly criticize him, in his crusade