“ Despite its gravity, there are still no positive developments regarding last year’s sensational P6.4-billion shabu smuggling case.

Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), has signified in no uncertain terms his displeasure over the way things are turning out at the Bureau of Customs (BoC) vis-a-vis their continued failure to stop the influx of illegal drugs into the country.

In a televised interview, the good general indicated this is why the NCRPO, as well as the Philippine National Police in general, is having an extremely difficult time trying to curb the flourishing drug trade despite their no-nonsense efforts in line with the marching orders of Malacañang.

Eleazar’s remarks came in the wake of the arrest of three suspects by anti-illegal drugs personnel of the Northern Police District last Wednesday during an entrapment activity in the Tomas Morato, Quezon City area.

Found in their possession were some 3,000 Ecstasy capsules and tablets, seven liters of liquid Ecstasy and around 100 grams of shabu with a street value of about P7 million. Under questioning, they readily admitted their contraband products had come from China.

It’s as if the pushers had a boundless supply of drugs at their disposal because Customs can’t seem to properly address drug smuggling inside its jurisdiction, he averred.

Eleazar, however, was quick to walk back the inflammatory talk because he wisely didn’t want to get uselessly entangled with Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña who maintains an immaculate relationship with President Duterte.

Eleazar clarified he wasn’t referring to anybody in particular at the BoC as behind the bigtime drug smuggling that has been going on in Aduana for the longest time now.

Be reminded that, despite its gravity, there are still no positive developments regarding last year’s sensational P6.4-billion shabu smuggling case which was taken up by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and ended up costing Nic Faeldon and several of his men their cushy jobs at Customs. As a matter of fact, many of the accused have already been given new assignments in the government like nothing ever happened. So, go figure.

To paraphrase from the Eleazar interview: “Hindi naman siguro sinasadyang palusutin ng Customs ang drogang dumadaan sa kanila, kundi na-o-overlook lang dahil sa dami ng mga importasyong dumadating dito araw-araw (There probably was no intention on their part to purposely allow drugs to slip into the country, but seeing that they had their hands full processing literally thousands of importations arriving each day, many drug shipments were being routinely overlooked).”

Dozens of nations – the Philippines included – which attended the United Nations-sponsored World Health Assembly in Geneva recently were left aghast when US officials began resorting to strong-arm tactics to deter passage of a proposed resolution designed to foster worldwide breastfeeding which has long been determined to be truly beneficial for the newborn.

There was a spirited debate, reports said, going on among the various international delegations to push the formal introduction of the aforementioned resolution when the US allegedly started intimidating the numerous Third World states sorely dependent on their foreign aid doleouts when things weren’t going according to plan.

“Many of the accused have already been given new assignments in the government like nothing ever happened.

The US was reportedly angling to water down the measure which recognized the importance of breastfeeding, especially in impoverished nations where nursing mothers don’t really have much access to nutrients unlike in the West, through two important portions in the draft – first, calling on governments to “promote, protect and support breastfeeding” and, second, urging lawmakers to limit inaccurate and misleading marketing of breast milk over substitutes that may be actually good for infants.

This was done allegedly upon express instructions from the White House, caving in to lobbyists of the $70-billion dairy (and infant formula) industry who were ordered into action by their clients in a bid to counter the diminishing sales volumes they’d been experiencing in recent years as more and more women became inclined to the practice of breastfeeding.

In going about trying to persuade nations to withdraw their support to said resolution – thereby debunking over 40 years of scientific consensus that mother’s milk is best for babies as well as the findings of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention that favor breastfeeding – the US relied on a network of diplomats to aggressively lean on perceived uncooperative nations by threatening retribution on trade and military aid.

Ecuador, which incurred the ire of Washington D.C. because it was seen to be the prime mover of the resolution at issue, was warned that the military aid it desperately needed in its fight against gang violence would be compromised should it persist. So, guess what, the Ecuadorian government prudently decided to back off in the uneven confrontation.

Also, the US is said to have vowed to impose substantial cuts to funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) if it didn’t have its way. With its doleout of $845 million, the US was the single biggest contributor to the WHO in 2017.

But it all boiled down to nothing when the showdown ended in a whimper, as the Americans’ best-laid plans to derail the breastfeeding resolution proved unsuccessful when Russia stood up in its defense.

The Russians opted to intervene simply because they didn’t want to appear unnecessarily embracing the interests of American infant formula manufacturers which was the real objective of US interventionism. And so, Ecuador’s proposed measure was passed without much ado.