Perennial also-ran Mar Roxas who is leading the pathetic cause of the yellow “Ocho Diretso” lineup for the midterm polls anchored his senatorial bid on a disastrous effort to challenge the war on drugs of Rody head on.

The effort assures his and the entire yellow slate’s loss, which is already their familiar fate under President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.

Using the Sen. Antonio Trillanes-concocted figure of more than 20,000 deaths in the war on drugs, Roxas fired off his criticisms saying the country instead requires rehabilitation centers, doctors and experts to solve addiction.

He added if he gets a Senate seat, he will work for an increase in intelligence funds “to look for big-time drug lords,” saying in the current campaign “only poor drug peddlers have been arrested.”

For a former Interior secretary, those were heavy accusations which all boomerang to him since Rody’s war on drugs was launched in response to the crime wave that made Filipinos lock themselves inside their homes during the term of former President Noynoy Aquino with Roxas as head of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

No significant effort against drugs can be remembered during the watch of Noynoy and Roxas.

Roxas claimed a 60 percent reduction in crime rates across the country through his Oplan Lambat Sibat, which is a canard since the streets were inhabited by thugs, goons and drug peddlers during the yellow regime.

In primetime news then, the incidences of crime being caught on camera seem to fill up whole news programs and people witnessing or experiencing criminal acts had become frighteningly common.

People did not walk the streets, particularly at night, against Roxas’ claim.

His lambat-sibat campaign was literally “good on paper,” since there was nothing in it except for press releases and it did not have any impact on the public’s perception of safety in their homes or outside.

Rody’s war on drugs had an instant effect of striking fear among traffickers after it was launched that resulted in the public winning back the streets, even at night, from criminals.

The arrest of Sen. Leila de Lima on drug charges and the breaking up of the New Bilibid Prison drug factory showed Rody’s determination in the campaign.

By touching the drugs issue, Roxas placed himself on the line of political fire since he is intricately linked to one of five police narco generals, retired police deputy director general Marcelo Garbo Jr.

“Nobody in the horizon of the political arena was talking about the seriousness of the drug problem. Nobody was talking about the number of crimes committed against the innocent and hapless civilians everywhere,” Rody told members of the Filipino community in Jakarta during one of his foreign visits as he described the lack of attention to the problem during the yellow administration.

“If I didn’t win, the Philippines would be in danger. Why? I’ll tell you: Garbo was the military aide of Roxas,” he said.

Rody said among the factors that instigated his anti-drugs campaign was the involvement of police officials in the trafficking of narcotics.

“Even if it takes me the entire six years, I will do it. It will be relentless. I am sorry if you die in the process,” he said addressing those who he considers involved in the trade and their protectors.

“All you have to do, my advice, is very simple — Stop,” Duterte said.

Roxas should keep on campaigning against the war on drugs which will expose further his apparent ties to the elements that inflicted the crisis on Filipinos.

It will also assure that the yellow candidates will have a perfect record of zero from voters who have been tired of the useless soundbites of Noynoy and Roxas.