War on Drugs
If you were the President, how do you solve the drug problem in our country? Everyone seems to have a solution. Every Tom, Dick and Harry continue to criticize the President and his efforts. But no one ever dared to fight this war before. Now that the business of illegal drugs has turned our country into a “narcostate” what do you expect the President to do? Sit back and relax?
A “narco-state” is a situation when illegal drugs has controlled government policies through bribery of government officials; where government officials turn a blind eye on drug trafficking; where traffickers act as kings because they control government officials; where the poor become victims because they are desperate to do anything even if it is bad and illegal while the rich are safe in their abode.
The intelligence group of the President listed around 31 “narco-politicians” who are still in power and 23 who do not hold office anymore. The worst part is that policemen, mayors, governors, congressmen, senators and judges are allegedly protectors of this trade. Drug money has influenced our local and national elections. It has controlled the fate of this country.
People who think they know how to solve the problem are just loud mouths. They only talk and bicker but don’t act. They talk about human rights without batting an eyelash. If you look at this country, we have many issues on human rights. There are many things we need to improve on – poverty, human trafficking and illegal labor.
The drug problem in this country is way too deep for us not to take it seriously.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), reported that more than 1.2 million drug users and 89,000 pushers have surrendered since the war on drugs started. This resulted in a 26 percent reduction of the total drug market, and a 29 percent drop in index crimes across the country. As of July 26, 2017, records show a total of 5,617 killed (68 police & military, 3,451 in legitimate police operations, 2,098 drug-related deaths).
The War on Drugs in the Philippines has been perceived to be focused only on the poor side of society. Why this perception? Why is the poor always the target in the selling and distribution of drugs? My friend Antonio Belzunce and I spent some time discussing this issue. Well, tradition has it that the poor are more often than not used for errands by the middle class and the rich to get whatever they need. Lately, everyone has been so obsessed in attending to their own personal agenda, initiating comments without proper investigation and evaluation of evidence. In most cases, opinions and statements are made to gain publicity or just to get some attention.
One must have a good understanding of the pattern in the illegal drug trade, behavioral distribution and its market to be able to comment objectively on the so-called war on drugs aptly staged by the present administration.
We know that the fight against drugs involves the Cartels (financiers and manufacturers), their distribution logistics and the sellers mostly from the poor side of society. It is a fact that when the rich needs drugs they send their poor acquaintances or servants to pick them up from the sellers. The sellers mostly are not infiltrated by the police. This means that the rich buyers are safe and will never be caught as drug users or for any involvement in the illegal drug trade.
Today, the authorities have made a headway in capturing (dead or alive) the drug bosses, raided drug processing plants, and intercepted shipments and distribution networks. There has also been progress in connecting the Marawi Maute terrorist group allegedly being funded by drug money. Of course, there is still the much-awaited capture of the greedy rich, politicians and public officials involved in the drug trade and distribution.
It is sad though that the Philippines does not have the forensic resources of affluent western countries that can correctly analyze the cause of death of the suspected drug victims. It is good to have the resources to determine powder residue from the dead victim’s hand to determine if he/she fired the gun, firing distances from the police report, the location and angle of the bullets and the location of the empty shell, etc, etc. We simply do not have the resources nationally to avail that type of investigation. We must also be practical about the true professional standard of our police force and their level of education (professionalism). What can we expect from the limited resources we provide our law enforcers? But still, we judge them based on the standards set by our western counterpart. Sanamagan!
Regina Hechanova, head of the Task Force on Drug Recovery of the Psychological Association of the Philippines said that we are about 20 to 30 years behind in our understanding of drug use. She added: “The understanding that our government leaders have, that’s the understanding that other countries had in the 1970s. Maybe the attention to it has not been there, perhaps? Especially in a country like the Philippines where people are stigmatized, it’s not something that people talk about.”
I think it is time that we update our understanding of drugs if we want to win this war. What the government has been doing in the past year is its sworn duty, not only to preserve the sovereignty and integrity of the country but also to defend the lives and aspirations of our peaceful citizens. The cost in blood may be high, but it must be done.
By the way, I hate to bring this up but what happened to the saga of Kian Delos Santos and his family? Clearly, they were used by “yellow journalism.” But look what happened in the end? The parents requested to meet the President (the center of controversy at the time of Kian’s death) and look what happened?