Daily Tribune (Philippines)

Drug war wins, foes lose

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“Despite his assertion that drug dependents are hopeless, communityb­ased recovery and out-patient wellness programs have been launched.

“Momentous gains in the anti-narcotics campaign resulted in a huge drop in the crime rate.

During the recent celebratio­n of the 118th year of existence of the police force, it was the figures that spoke for the success of the signature campaign of President Rody Duterte, the war on drugs which has the support of an overwhelmi­ng percentage of the population.

The new argument by the usual critics is that “being democratic­ally elected and the high approval ratings in surveys are not valid defense against accusation­s of killings that constitute the crime of murder” which of course refers to the 27,000 extrajudic­ial killings cooked up by demagogue Antonio Trillanes IV.

The red, yellow and white opponents represente­d by the Communist Party of the Philippine­s, the yellow mob and the pontificat­ing bishops, all wanted an internatio­nal probe from preferably the United Nations to hound Rody no end on the allegation­s of summary killings.

The reason for his opponents to address mostly the foreign media and institutio­ns abroad for their bankrupt propaganda is that their allegation­s fall flat when ranged with cold statistics.

From 1 July 2016 to 31 July 2019, the Philippine National Police (PNP) reported 163,622 anti-illegal drugs operations that resulted in the arrest of more than 256,000 drug personalit­ies, the death of more than 6,000 in police operations and the surrender of more than 1.2 million under Oplan “Tokhang.”

Moreover, the PNP reported that 3,133 major drug trafficker­s were arrested while another 3,705 surrendere­d against 325 deaths in police operations.

PNP chief General Oscar Albayalde said the momentous gains in the anti-narcotics campaign resulted in a huge drop in the crime rate which only proved the assertion of Rody that narcotics is the root of all social problems.

From more than 626,000 from July 2015 to June 2016, the total crime volume decreased by 58,276 or 9.30 percent during the first year of President Duterte’s term covering the period July 2016 to June 2017, PNP data showed.

It showed that the level further dipped to 79,647 incidents or 14.02 percent on the second year covering the period July 2017 to June 2018 and fell by 2.91 percent on the third year covering the period July 2018 to June 2019.

Of the 42,045 barangays, more than 13,000 have been declared drug-free.

Albayalde cited the profession­al orientatio­n of police officers and that all operations continue to be conducted within the bounds of the law “with utmost respect for human rights.”

In contrast, the foes of Rody endlessly harps on his fiery speeches where curses and threats are uttered against criminals as proof that he is behind all those killed during the conduct of the drug war.

The worn-out claims of his opponents included Rody to have instigated ordinary citizens to kill suspected drug pushers and addicts, issued shoot-to-kill orders to policemen, offered bounties for killing those allegedly involved in the drug trade and that he admitted to personally killing crime suspects.

So much for evidence since those mostly came from Rody himself during his passionate reference to his determined bid to stop the narcotics scourge.

The actions taken by the government is in complete contrast to what Rody dishes out when he opens his mouth. Despite his assertion that drug dependents are hopeless, community-based recovery and out-patient wellness programs have been launched.

Albayalde said that through the centers supervised by the police, drug addicts are being transforme­d by providing spiritual, psychologi­cal, physiologi­cal, economic and other forms of support to help rebuild their lives, restore their values and become productive members of society.

PNP data showed more than 435,000 surrendere­rs have graduated from this program since Rody took power.

Even foreign perception­s on public order has improved as the Philippine­s was ranked as the 24th best place in the world to live and work, just behind the United States (23rd) and ahead of China (26th) in the 2019 HSBC Expat survey.

The creation of a secured and orderly environmen­t as Rody promised voters has been delivered despite all the roadblocks thrown by the hypocrites and the moralists who have long lost credibilit­y with the Filipino nation.

The obstructio­nism of the opposition only strengthen­s the people’s confidence on the political will of the president.

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