Still going at it

My, my. People close to or who had been associated with slain drug lord Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz are dropping like flies. Oh I don’t mean that they’ve gone the way of Diaz who was killed in a shootout with members of the Regional Intelligence Division and the Regional Special Operations Group with the help of Las Piñas police last June 17, 2016.

The law is just catching up with them. One by one. The latest to fall was Johnick Armand Jugan Bandolon Jr.

The 29-year-old was arrested in a drug bust in Barangay Maravilla in Tabuelan last Saturday night. Police confiscated P10,000 worth of suspected shabu from him.

Bandolon told his captors that he was the former cook of Diaz.

Since Diaz’s death, his multi-million-peso drug syndicate, according to SunStar Cebu’s Johanna O. Bajenting, has become a band of ex-convicts falling in the hands of authorities.

Of course, those closest to Diaz were taken into custody first like many of his right-hand men, including his courier, personal security guard, hitman and collector.

It has been two years since former Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte sat down in Malacañang.

One of his many campaign promises that raised many eyebrows was his vow to put an end to criminality within three to six months if elected president, and that not only included illegal drugs but also corruption, with an addendum that he would resign from office if he failed to do so.

So he hasn’t. Stopped criminality and resigned, that is. But it was a tall order from the very beginning, and no one, I mean no one, not even Duterte probably, believed it would be possible. After all, he did say it during the campaign and we all know what happens to politicians during this period.

Many promise the moon and the stars, but, when elected, renege with excuses that are closer to the truth.

Mind you, despite these setbacks, the administration has not given up.

The failure to stop illegal drugs might have highlighted the immensity of the problem, which had become ingrained in the fabric of our society, but it also forced the government to come up with bold moves.

The Philippine National Police embarking on an internal cleansing program was one of them. Reaching out to the community to convince everyone that solving the drug problem would be in their best interest was another.

Just recently, the Cebu City Police Office launched the “Itug-an ni CD” program, a 24/7 hotline that encourages the public to report all forms of criminality as well as good and bad deeds of the men and women in the force.

So I wonder who’s next?

Diaz’s former laundrywoman or maybe his former massage therapist?