Daily TribuneContrary to the ‘bloody’ Duterte drug war, the Marcos government has introduced its version of managing the fight against illegal drugs.
In Sun Tzu's "Art of War," he described the "supreme art of war" as "to subdue the enemy without fighting".
The Philippines' version of the war on drugs by the previous Duterte administration unleashed a force so lethal cries of human rights violations reverberated across the globe that the international community condemned what they call "state-sanctioned murder", and the International Criminal Court wants to initiate its investigation.
Contrary to the "bloody" Duterte drug war, the Marcos government has introduced its version of managing the fight against illegal drugs.
When President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. took office, he promised to continue what former President Rodrigo Duterte had started in the anti-drug campaign.
Recently, BBM proved that an anti-drug operation could be conducted without bloodshed after over P6.7 billion shabu was confiscated in Manila, one of the biggest drug hauls by the police from a high-value suspect.
And despite the large amount of seized illegal drugs, none of the arrested suspects were harmed in the conduct of three separate operations in Tondo, Manila, and Pasig City.
In the Sta. Cruz, Manila operations, government forces seized documents linking Police Master Sgt. Rodolfo Mayo, Jr. in the illegal drug trade. Mayo is an intelligence officer of the Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group assigned in the National Capital Region.
Mayo's lending business, Wealth and Personal Development Lending Inc. is allegedly used as a legal front for selling drugs to other users and clients. And is it possible that the shabu was also "recycled" from previous police operations?
Marcos does not want to abandon the fight against illegal drugs to protect the youth, especially the vulnerable, whose lives would be ruined if the illicit trade continues.
One of the significant victories of the Duterte's war on drugs campaign is it exposed the vast trade network. Narcopolitics became real, with mayors, governors, and even lawmakers involved in illegal drugs. Duterte, with his brand of leadership, explicitly called for the police "to kill" anyone engaged in illicit drugs. The vast network requires a violent response, his administration believed.
PBBM, however, took a different tack with his unique method. He wanted to arrest the people involved in drugs alive so they can identify the sources of illegal drugs.
He strengthened the PNP — Drug Related Data Integration Generation System led by the Directorate for Operations, which served as a digital library of all information nationwide about the anti-drug campaign and, when fully operational, will allow more effective real-time management of operations.
Monitoring the rehabilitation of drug users has also been included in the database as part of the demand-reduction strategy, alongside the supply-reduction scheme in prosecuting drug syndicates.
Taking a more practical approach — a protracted strategy, Marcos admitted that the fight woul d go beyond his six-year term, focusing instead on prevention and rehabilitation rather than using the gun's might.
BBM wants to reinvent the country's image that has come under fire for allegations of human rights violations and extra-judicial killings, apart from reports of drug war collaterals that include children killed in anti-drug wars.
Several thousands of drug pushers and users have been killed in police operations, including more than 150 police officers who have been charged or are facing criminal charges for cases related to the drug war.
Today, we see that the Marcos administration is trying to learn the best ways to teach drug victims to stay away from drugs and help them start over, and live a good life as responsible and productive members of society.
