The US State Department's 2016 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report says that addiction to shabu ( street name for methamphetamine or meth) is the most significant drug problem of the Philippines, with the narcotic continually growing as the most widely trafficked in the country. A UN World Drug Report also tagged the Philippines as the country having the highest rate of shabu use in the whole of East Asia with even the Catholic Bishop's Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) releasing a pastoral letter last year expressing concern about the proliferation of the drug problem in the country and the alleged involvement of government officials. [continues 847 words]
Define Human Being, Duterte Tells Rights Groups DAVAO CITY - Junkies are not humans. That is how President Duterte sees drug users whose bodies are piling up as he presses his brutal war on drugs. International human rights groups and the United Nations have raised concern about the killings, but Mr. Duterte, addressing soldiers at a military camp in his hometown Davao City on Friday night, said those groups should review their concept of human rights. "These human rights (advocates) did not count those who were killed before I became President. The children who were raped and mutilated [by drug users]," he said. [continues 810 words]
It was an "unacceptable" statement and he was sorry. Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa yesterday apologized for his statements calling on addicts to burn down the houses of suspected drug lords. Facing hundreds of drug surrenderees in Bacolod City on Thursday, Dela Rosa had urged them to burn the houses of drug lords or kill them. "Pour gasoline over their houses then light them up. Show them that you are angry over that they did to you. They're enjoying (your) money, money that destroyed your brain. You know who the drug lords are. Would you like to kill them? Go ahead. Killing is allowed because (you) are the victim," Dela Rosa told the assembled drug surrenderees in Bacolod. [continues 293 words]
The United States has not only made clear its concerns over extrajudicial killings in the Philippines but is discussing them "privately" with the Duterte administration, the US State Department said. "I would say that we continue to engage with the government of the Philippines on our concerns privately, as well as from the podium, and raise those. It's hard for me to characterize how seriously they take that. We continue to raise it," State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said in a press briefing when asked about President Duterte's attacks against Sen. Leila de Lima in the same week Washington expressed concerns over drug-related killings in the Philippines. [continues 348 words]
It is obvious that Duterte's reforms are being blocked by his enemies. Their objective is to blacken his image and make his campaign against drug lords difficult and frustrate government reform. They are not bothered that if the drug lords and their backers (politicians mostly) are not stopped the drugs will proliferate and the problem will be impossible to solve. It is a war between criminals and their victims. Before that happens Filipinos must stop them or it will go out of hand. I am reprinting here the post of BayanKo's adviser Jose Alejandrino which is now viralling in social media. We should not waste time with so-called congressional investigations from the very senators accused of protecting drug lords. Instead we should mobilize as we did in Duterte's Luneta rally to spare our country, the poor and especially the young, from the evil that confronts us. [continues 945 words]
MORE THAN 1,800 deaths so far, and counting. That's the number provided by Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa himself at the Senate inquiry into the surge of extrajudicial killings since July 1, when President Duterte took office with a vow to rid this country of drugs and crime by whatever means. How many of these deaths involved minors? The government numbers do not indicate that information. And so the death of Danica May Garcia will eventually be lumped along with the rest-one more negligible statistic in the administration's brutal war against the drug menace that it has declared as the country's No. 1 problem today. [continues 620 words]
The latest casualty in the administration's "war" against drugs is tiny Danica May Garcia, all of five years old. Danica May, young Rowena Tiamson, 22; Jefferson Buhain, 20; Roman Clifford Manaois, 20, have all paid the ultimate price for an illegal drug trade that was allowed to prosper unabated by previous administrations. These innocents have been categorized as "collateral damage." To dehumanize them so in the effort to play down the accountability of those responsible is really to watch them die twice. [continues 1000 words]
THE ONGOING orgy of extralegal drug killings has become quite alarming and a cause for serious concern. President Duterte takes pride in the seeming success of his war on drugs and is constantly prodding the Philippine National Police to accelerate the killings. In his first State of the Nation Address, President Duterte said in substance that we should not let human rights destroy our nation. As a lawyer, I have always believed that human rights are what make us "human" and "civilized," the protection of which we should guard with vigilance. The summary execution of drug suspects without trial is akin to the slaughter of Indonesian "communists" during the time of President Suharto, which has been characterized as a "genocide." [continues 292 words]
When Philippine National Police officials report with a hint of pride that some 1,800 people have been killed in the drug war within less than two months, and some senators say the figure is still small considering the number of drug "personalities" in the country, this nation has lost its soul. President Duterte has amply shown that the drug menace is real and alarming in its scale. Whether the pervasiveness of the problem deserves those 1,800 deaths - more than half of which, the PNP stressed, were perpetrated by vigilantes - is debatable. But the debate at this point is lopsided and heavily in favor of the executioners. Many Filipinos seem to go along with Dirty Rody's Machiavellian belief about the end justifying the means. [continues 840 words]
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa prodded drug addicts "to kill drug lords and burn their houses for making them gaunt, toothless and addicted to shabu." Dela Rosa stressed that drug lords have ruined their lives. In contrast, he explained that drug lords do not use illegal drugs. "They look good and get rich, enjoying the fruits of their illegal activities at the expense of drug addicts. "You know who the drug lords are in your place. If you want to kill them, kill them. You can kill them because you are the victims, " Dela Rosa said in Filipino in a speech in Bacolod City. [continues 429 words]
Witnesses aren't the only ones who are permanently silenced. Lawyers whether representing crime victims or suspects are also being targeted by those who want to thwart the administration of justice. Last Tuesday in Tacloban City, men on a motorcycle pulled up to a car driven by Rogelio Bato Jr. and opened fire with a rifle and a .45-caliber handgun. Bato and his companion, a 15-year-old girl, did not stand a chance. The gunmen escaped. Bato was the lawyer of Mayor Rolando Espinosa of Albuera town in Leyte. The mayor had been identified by President Duterte as one of the local government officials allegedly involved in drug trafficking. Espinosa pointed to his son Kerwin as the drug dealer. Kerwin is at large and believed to be abroad, but six of their family's bodyguards were also shot dead during a police raid on one of their homes after Espinosa presented himself to the Philippine National Police. [continues 176 words]
THE wave of "terrifying" drug killings is an indication of lawlessness and not crime control, human rights group Amnesty International (AI) said on Wednesday. The group issued the statement after Philippine National Police chief Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa informed the Senate that unidentified persons or groups have killed at least 1,067 people while the police shot dead more than 712 drug suspects in legitimate operations since July 1. "[The killings] is a terrifying indication that the authorities are grossly failing in their obligations to respect and protect the right to life," Amnesty said. [continues 534 words]
The United States is "deeply concerned" by reports of more deaths in the crackdown on illegal drugs in the Philippines, with US State Department spokesman Mark Toner urging the Duterte administration to ensure law enforcers observe human rights norms. The US voiced its concern after Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa told a Senate panel on Monday that 712 drug traffickers and users had been killed in police operations since July 1. Malacanang said it respects the US's expressing such concern. [continues 531 words]
But "meth," or methamphetamine hydrochloride, short for shabu, is something else, the President pointed out. Shabu addicts were initially described as the "living dead" by President Rodrigo Duterte when he made an impassioned speech last week in defense of his administration's deadly literally campaign against illegal drugs. A few days later, President Duterte called these shabu dependents as the "walking dead" in our midst. Perhaps, the President was able to watch last week the first episode of the popular "Walking Dead" TV series now being locally carried at TV5 every Thursday night. "Walking Dead" is a fictional apocalyptic weekly series in US setting where zombies, or the undead, prey and feed upon human beings. [continues 962 words]
SOME Filipinos view the recent surge in drug-related killings as a "necessary evil in pursuit of greater good," according to President Duterte's chief economic adviser. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia yesterday admitted that the impression of the international business community on Mr. Duterte's approach in stemming illegal drugs may affect the country's business environment. The economics professor from the University of the Philippines urged the media to interview individuals who were supportive of the President's war on drugs. [continues 244 words]
MANILA - The soaring number of killings by the police in the Philippines is being caused by drug suspects who choose to battle officers instead of surrendering, the nation's top police official told lawmakers on Tuesday. "If they did not fight it out with police, they would be alive," said the national police chief, Ronald dela Rosa, who is heading the country's deadly antidrug war. He said the number of deaths since the campaign began on July 1 had jumped to 1,916 - 137 more than the figure he gave senators on Monday, the first of two days of hearings devoted to the killings. He said on Tuesday that reports of killings came in daily from police units around the country. "As I was presenting yesterday," he said, "there were people killed." [continues 725 words]
The witnesses' narratives had a common thread: the victims were low-level drug pushers silenced by corrupt law enforcers who were either their protectors or suppliers in the illegal drug trade. This emerged at the first Senate hearing on extrajudicial killings led by the committee on justice and human rights, chaired by Sen. Leila de Lima, and the committee on public order and illegal drugs chaired by Sen. Panfilo Lacson. Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa told the joint hearing that as of yesterday, the PNP had tallied 712 suspects killed in legitimate operations, of whom 269 were reported in Metro Manila, since the Duterte administration launched its war on drugs on July 1. [continues 1018 words]
MANILA - Killings by the police and vigilantes in the Philippines' war on drugs have soared to nearly 1,800 in the seven weeks since President Rodrigo Duterte was sworn into office, the nation's top police official told a Senate hearing on Monday. Under Duterte, who campaigned on a pledge to rid the country of drug dealers, 712 suspects have been killed in police operations, National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa said. Vigilante killings have totaled 1,067 during the same period, he said, although it was unclear how many were directly related to the illegal drug trade. [continues 548 words]
MANILA, Philippines - Killings by the police and vigilantes in the Philippines' war on drugs have soared to nearly 1,800 in the seven weeks since President Rodrigo Duterte was sworn into office, the nation's top police official told a Senate hearing on Monday. Under Duterte, who campaigned on a pledge to rid the country of drug dealers, 712 suspects have been killed in police operations, National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa said. Vigilante killings have totaled 1,067 during the same period, he said, although it was unclear how many were directly related to the illegal drug trade. [continues 175 words]
MANILA - Killings by the police and vigilantes in the Philippines' war on drugs have soared to nearly 1,800 in the seven weeks since President Rodrigo Duterte was sworn into office, the nation's top police official told a Senate hearing on Monday. Under Mr. Duterte, who campaigned on a pledge to rid the country of drug dealers, 712 suspects have been killed in police operations, National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa said. Vigilante killings have totaled 1,067 during the same period, he said, although it was unclear how many were directly related to the illegal drug trade. [continues 964 words]
ALL FILIPINOS, whether public officials or ordinary citizens, have the right to due process. It is a human right guaranteed by the Philippine Constitution that President Duterte swore to uphold and defend. It is sorely disappointing to see the President disregard this constitutional right as he voices no objection to the killing of suspected drug pushers by the police or by vigilantes, and accuses police officers, local executives, judges and other officials of being drug lords or their protectors without the benefit of a thorough, completed criminal investigation. Without presenting solid evidence to back up his public allegations, President Duterte, the most powerful public official of our land, has embarked on a chilling, sickening name-and-shame campaign that is in effect an unjust, unlawful and unconstitutional trial by publicity. [continues 666 words]
THE Senate opens today an inquiry into the ongoing anti-drugs campaign of the Duterte administration which has already resulted in hundreds of deaths, thousands of arrests, and tens of thousands of surrenders of both pushers and users. Over 800 had already been killed by the middle of last month and the figure continues to grow, raising fears of human rights violations. In the last few days, there have been considerable fireworks around the person of Sen. Leila de Lima, whose Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights is to conduct the inquiry. President Duterte has accused her of having an affair with her driver who allegedly collected drug money for her inside the New Bilibid Prison. Last Friday, she called most of the charges "lies, distortions, and exaggerations," but did admit some of it were true "may kaunting totoo." [continues 337 words]
Resents Criticisms of His Antidrug War PRESIDENT Duterte yesterday threatened to pull the Philippines out of the United Nations as he launched another profanity-laced tirade against the world body for criticizing his ruthless war on drugs. More than 1,500 people have been killed since Mr. Duterte took office on June 30 and immediately launched a take-noprisoners crackdown on illegal drugs, drawing fierce criticism from the United Nations and human rights groups. A lawyer notorious for an acid tongue, Mr. Duterte has repeatedly told the United Nations not to interfere, calling the world body "stupid" for its criticisms. [continues 964 words]
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte's campaign promise to stop crime and corruption in six months must be pressuring the police into killing X-number of suspects by his 50th day in office, his 100th, and so forth, in a bloody race to meet the quotas by deadline time. The Commander's shoot-to-kill order (if the suspect fights back, kuno) has seen many police officers committing their first murder, executing suspects whose guilt has not been established and who in some instances were begging for their lives. [continues 588 words]
Malacanang yesterday criticized as "baseless and reckless" a United Nations statement that President Duterte's bloody war on drugs amounted to a crime under international law. Duterte's chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo told AFP the administration was not behind the extrajudicial killings targeting alleged criminal suspects, challenging UN human rights experts to visit the Philippines and investigate. Two UN rights experts said Thursday that Duterte's directives calling on law enforcers and the public to kill suspected drug traffickers "amount to incitement to violence and killing, a crime under international law." [continues 341 words]
They are also right in calling for divine intervention in the lives of addicts so they may find strength in shaking off their dependency on drugs. No doubt prayer works, but there is no secret formula that could bring about the change everybody wants to see the easy way the elimination of the drug menace in the country. Such major surgery involves searing pain. THE time to get involved in the affairs of this country is now, and the evangelicals are on the right track in coming up with a pastoral letter that supports the campaign against the drug menace while condemning the unwarranted killings of addicts and pushers. [continues 359 words]
THE WAR of words between President Duterte and the United Nations escalated on Thursday, with a UN envoy warning that "state actors" could be held responsible over hundreds of killings in the government's controversial crackdown on illegal drugs. Challenged by presidential chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo to come over and see for herself the real situation, UN special rapporteur on summary executions Agnes Callamard tweeted on Friday: "Invitation to investigate welcomed. Ready to 'see for myself.'" In a statement, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said that the "seeming incomprehension by local and international observers" was "more alarming than the pandemic use and trade of illegal drugs in the Philippines." [continues 762 words]
The person accused of wrongdoing is a senator, and it is his duty, President Duterte said, to tell the truth to the nation. On Wednesday he hurled serious accusations against Sen. Leila de Lima, saying she had an affair with her married driver who collected drug payola from convicts at the New Bilibid Prison. While the President said he was not sure if the drug money was forwarded to De Lima when she was the secretary of justice, he added that this seemed to be the case. The story about the driver is not new. As early as 2014, jueteng whistleblower Sandra Cam had alleged that the driver, identified as Ronnie Palisoc Dayan, had been made an employee of the Department of Justice and was acting as an influence peddler in the DOJ and its attached agencies. [continues 239 words]
IT'S easy to dismiss the search for justice by the mother of suspected drug lord Alvaro "Barok" Alvaro for her other son Medz, who was shot dead by policemen in a buy-bust operation in Danao City last Aug. 11. Also killed in that operation was Medz's alleged cohort, Ronnie Castro. For believers in the method used by the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte in its campaign against the illegal drugs trade, relatives of Medz and Castro have lost their right to question the manner of their death because of their supposed involvement in criminal acts. But Emma Alvaro has as much a right to seek an investigation of the incident as relatives of victims of vehicular accidents. [continues 273 words]
MANILA - Even amid the slaughter of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, the killings of Renato and Jaypee Bertes stand out. The Bertes men, father and son, shared a tiny, concrete room with six other people in a metropolitan Manila slum, working odd jobs when they could find them. Both smoked shabu, a cheap form of methamphetamine that has become a scourge in the Philippines. Sometimes Jaypee Bertes sold it in small amounts, relatives said. So it was unsurprising when the police raided their room last month. [continues 1297 words]
(The following are excerpts from the "Position Paper on Extra-Judicial Killings As Means in the 'War on Drugs'" by the Center for Governance, Leadership and Development of the Department of Political Science of the University of San Carlos) While the campaign against illegal drugs is a fight we all share, the relentless killings of persons allegedly linked to the illegal drug trade has raised an important question that every Filipino, regardless of social status, education, political beliefs, or religious affiliation, ought to confront: Are we doing this right? [continues 744 words]
The United Nations yesterday urged the Philippine government to put an end to the current wave of extrajudicial killings in the context of an intensified campaign against crime and the drug menace. Two UN human rights experts said "allegations of drug trafficking offenses should be judged in a court of law, not by gunmen on the streets." The Philippine National Police reported yesterday that over 1,600 drug suspects have been killed since Duterte assumed power, with 665 attributed to PNP members and the rest to vigilantes. [continues 410 words]
As of yesterday, Sen. Leila de Lima didn't look "destroyed," although she was clearly distressed and admitted feeling scared and concerned for herself and those close to her. Lamenting the "abuse" and "misuse" of executive power, De Lima announced that her committee would proceed with its probe on Monday into the continuing killing spree. And if the administration is correct in its suspicions, no one is backing out either from efforts to bring the killings before the United Nations a possibility that seems to make the President fly into a fit of rage. [continues 798 words]
The police service celebrated its 115th anniversary the other day as the Senate prepared to launch an inquiry into the spate of killings of drug suspects since President Duterte assumed power. The official toll, according to Philippine National Police officials, was 1,564 as of yesterday, with 899 attributed not to PNP members but to vigilantes. Echoing the President, PNP officials have defended the mass killings, trotting out statistics to show that the crime rate has gone down. The homicide rate, of course, has soared and is sure to be the highest in this part of the world. Whether the victim was a drug dealer or law-abiding civilian, each killing must be probed and the perpetrator brought to justice. [continues 234 words]
WE, THE Missionary Benedictine Sisters of the Manila Priory, express our grave concern about the culture of death creeping into our society and the rampant and open violations of human rights linked to the Duterte administration's war on illegal drugs. At the outset, we state our condemnation of the drug trade that has not been properly addressed due to corruption, indifference and lack of political will. Powerful drug syndicates have succeeded in penetrating all levels of our society through bribery of corrupt public officials and law enforcers. This in turn has resulted in the corruption of our youth, the proliferation of heinous crimes, and the deterioration of the moral fabric of our society. [continues 389 words]
IF JOSE Rizal were alive today, he would probably be found dead on a Manila street with a crude cardboard sign identifying him as a drug user. Rizal, after all, admitted taking hashish when he was 18 years old. But someone should explain to the trigger-happy police or vigilantes that in Rizal's time, hashish, which we know today as marijuana, "Mary Jane," or "jutes," was not what it is now: a prohibited drug. It was considered medicine and was dispensed freely from a drugstore. [continues 902 words]
"Rise, above principle and do what's right." - Walter Heller AS the famous Roman orator Cicero had written, "laws are silent in time of war," and Duterte's war against drug trafficking and its lethal effects on humans is total war. The fight against drugs has become relentless, uncompromising, and nonnegotiable. It is fatal and it affects all classes and all ages which call for a united and nationwide effort and urgency. For these reasons, President Rodrigo "Digong" Roa Duterte should be given the leverage and space to pursue his crusade against drugs, corruption, and criminality unhampered by bureaucratic niceties and legalistic obstacles. [continues 378 words]
President Duterte scored the United Nations yesterday for hitting his aggressive anti-drug campaign, which he said has so far claimed the lives of 1,000 drug addicts and pushers. He complained that the UN is zeroing in on his administration's drug campaign when it was quiet on mass killings in other countries. "While I really do not know who's going to come here for that, I am going to whack him in the head," Duterte said at the anniversary of the Philippine National Police at Camp Crame. [continues 431 words]
We want to know what the young are thinking about. What are their thoughts on current issues? We welcome contributions from the twentysomething and below.- Ed. HUNDREDS HAVE died and thousands have voluntarily surrendered to authorities in the course of President Duterte's war on drugs. And though his violent and urgent campaign has done much to bring the issue to the national conversation, it also reveals how ill-equipped our legal infrastructure is in dealing with the victims of this war. The infrastructure required for the rehabilitation of drug users is lacking, and the way our law treats drug offenders is unfair and dehumanizing. [continues 845 words]
PROTESTS are growing in the Philippines over President Rodrigo Duterte's brutal campaign against the drug trade. Estimates of the numbers killed by police and vigilantes since Mr Duterte emerged as president-elect after the May 9 election vary between 650 and 1000. The bloodied bodies of alleged drug dealers and users have been left on streets and in gutters, often with cardboard placards proclaiming their involvement in the drug trade. Rights groups have condemned the killings and there have been protests recently at several schools and towns. [continues 130 words]
This administration will be remembered for institutionalizing mass killings as the ultimate crime-fighting tool. Public acquiescence to the mass killings is among the most astonishing elements in this vicious war on drugs. President Duterte, the architect of the crime-fighting strategy, may be glad to know that these days, when people are exasperated with criminality and even corruption and other forms of abuse in government, they ask why the crooks are still alive. "There oughta be a law" has been replaced with "they oughta be shot" - fatally, if possible. [continues 825 words]
Unstopped, the silencing of surrendered pusher-addicts could worsen to vendetta against anti-narcotics operatives. Vigilante killers are riding on, thus smearing Rody Duterte's war on drugs. They began striking, seemingly random, days after his May presidential win and worsened to almost daily after his June inaugural. The victims mostly were street pushers or addicted petty criminals from the slums. Duterte theorized a motive even then. Narco-financiers, including politicos and cops, were silencing their own street pushers in anticipation of his crackdown. Very plausible, for the narco-trade has infested high office and society. The past administration not only had let the problem fester; the ruling party notoriously even had as treasurers a sequence of drug lords from Southern Tagalog. [continues 590 words]
THE public is wondering how our government will respond or react to the statement issued on Friday, August 12, by the United States embassy in Manila, in which it expressed a number of concerns about certain statements made by President Duterte and the phenomenon of extrajudicial killings in the prosecution of the administration's war on drugs. Before saying anything, our government must carefully take note that it is an embassy statement, not a statement of the US Department of State, which would make it an entirely different thing. [continues 429 words]
Anti-illegal drug operations will be intensified in high-end clubs located at the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig City following the arrest of three alleged drug traffickers last Saturday in Taguig and Pasig, the Southern Police District said. Owners of upscale bars and nightclubs have been cooperative in the campaign against illegal activities, National Capital Regional Police Office ( NCRPO) director Chief Supt. Oscar Albayalde said yesterday. Albayalde said owners of upscale bars and nightclubs are willing to sign a memorandum of agreement with the Philippine National Police ( PNP) allowing police operatives to conduct surveillance in their establishments. [continues 133 words]
STORIES about shenanigans at the Cebu City Jail have been doing the rounds for years. Because the jail is being run by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), tackling the complaints related to these "stories" has been dependent not on the local government officials but on a national government agency. For years, BJMP 7 officials tended to look the other way allowing those "stories" to persist. The raid conducted early Saturday, done in full force by various law enforcement units, was thus a welcome development. It was called, like in previous raids, "Operation Greyhound" but it was an operation like no other before it in intensity and scope. No wonder it also netted the biggest catch in years. [continues 262 words]
FORMER Cebu City Jail warden Johnson Calub and 28 senior jail guards will not be reporting to work today. Calub might even face an administrative case if there's proof he was "remiss in his duty." Meanwhile, a team of investigators from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology 7 Regional Investigation and Prosecution Division will subject the jail officers to an inquiry if there is enough basis to include them. Hold on. Is this related to the discovery of P4,653,400 in cash, illegal drugs and appliances inside the facility? So what's with the "if he was 'remiss in his duty'" and "if there is enough basis to include them?" [continues 411 words]
CHIEF Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said Monday, August 15, that the Duterte administration is not tolerating the extrajudicial killings of suspected drug personalities and stressed that it was the drug suspects who are "killing each other." "As far as we are concerned, the killings are being made by drug pushers themselves, killing each other," Panelo told reporters. Panelo's statement came after the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) had withdrawn its support on President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war, saying it has "clearly become anti-people and anti-democratic." [continues 199 words]
OFTENTIMES, debates do not end in resolutions nor do the arguments meet squarely. The problem lies not in the lack of logic but on the different paradigms the reasoning proceeds from. Understanding the war on drugs require a proper paradigm, the paradigm of war. Over the years, decades even, the drug situation has worsened. Drug addicts took marijuana and cough syrups. They walked in the streets and their profile as addicts are unmistakable: long hair, tattered pants, skinny, and untidy. Overtime the addicts turn to synthetic drugs, most famous of which is "shabu." So too the profile of an addict: it has gone a massive transformation. For the untrained eye an addict maybe in your office without being noticed. They may even wear "barong" or coat and tie. [continues 623 words]
We can rant all day about how dirty and bloody the current war on drugs has become, but we cannot deny the fact that only President Rodrigo Duterte has shown utmost resolve and political will to do battle with drug syndicates. The illegal drug trade is just one of the tentacles of the underworld. According to law enforcement experts, revenues accrued from drug trafficking fund the criminal colony that is illegal gambling, human trafficking, white slavery, gunrunning, cybercrime and terrorism, not to mention sustaining the network of government officials who aid the illegal structure. [continues 920 words]
What changed is that the socalled "war" on drugs is now taken most literally. Our entire police organization seems entirely focused on the drug problem. Raids are conducted incessantly. Evidence is being collected against the so-called "drug lords" and their powerful protectors. As all wars do, this effort produces a body count. It creates collateral damage, innocents harmed in the pursuit of powerful criminal gangs. As all wars do, this one creates a fog: a climate of confusion where vigilantes jump into the action and where the criminals themselves start eliminating rivals. As the body count bloats, public resistance to the antidrug effort begins to build. [continues 817 words]
Inside Philippines
