Cocaine: a real concern

What should be a real cause for concern is the statement of the police after the discovery of the first batch of the blocks of cocaine in the waters off Camarines that this is a “clear and present danger.”

The discovery of the several blocks of cocaine that were washed ashore in the beaches of the country’s eastern seaboard is disturbing and the police are still not yet certain where these blocks of cocaine come from. I am personally concerned that some of these blocks of cocaine were found on the shores of Tandag City, the capital of Surigao del Sur, my home province.

If shabu is considered the poor man’s cocaine, so cocaine is only for the rich. This is the reason that shabu has widely spread in the country because it’s affordable to the drug users. So why has cocaine amounting to already billions of pesos found its way to our shores when it’s very expensive? Or is our country only used as transshipment point?

The police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (Pdea) are yet to come up with a definite theory on who is or are responsible for these blocks of cocaine being dropped in Philippine waters. The local term for the dropping of illegal or smuggled items in the open seas is “bombing.” This is not a new trick, though, for the illegal traders.

What should be a real cause for concern is the statement of the police after the discovery of the first batch of the blocks of cocaine in the waters off Camarines that this is a “clear and present danger.” The police may be right but this is not enough ground for the President to suspend the writ of habeas corpus or declare martial law in the entire country.

Some even surmised that those blocks of cocaine found on the different shores of the country were only decoys to mislead the PDEA and the police. Are we to understand that there were more of those blocks of cocaine that were already in the hands of the illegal drug traders? The PDEA and the police should do more than just providing us with conjectures.

There is also a theory that the drug cartels are doing this to shame and dare President Duterte because of his administration’s relentless campaign against the illegal drug trade. The police and the Pdea should soon unmask the people responsible for the dropping of these blocks of cocaine into the seas.

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After the much ballyhooed peace talks between the government and the CPP/NPA rebels took a backseat, our armed forces have again to deal with the NPAs especially with the reports that they are on the extortion charge of the candidates in the forthcoming midterm elections on May 13, 2019.

Lt. Gen. Noel Clement, the commander of the AFP Central Command based in Cebu City, revealed to media that members of the New People’s Army usually ask candidates to present a “campaign permit” they issue for a fee before they can campaign in their controlled areas. This is a plain and simple form of extortion.

Although Clement refused to reveal the names of candidates who were sent letters by the NPA to shell out money for their “campaign permit,” but what is satisfying is that this is happening only in the islands of Negros, Samar and Panay. According to Clement, the NPA’s campaign permit would cost a candidate from P10,000 to P100,000 depending on the position a candidate is running for.

The Central Command chief said there are candidates in Cebu who may have been sent letters by the NPA but they are still subject to verification. From the last information I have, the only area that the NPAs are present is in the hinterlands of Tuburan. Well, Lt. General Clement should do sooner than later his promise to neutralize them.