Perched in its ivory tower, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has just handed a lifeline to the drug lords that former President Rodrigo Duterte hunted down. Duterte’s arrest may be helping push the Philippines to the edge of a relapse into lawlessness.

The sanctimonious prigs that all chipped in to bundle off a potent threat to their political agenda hail his arrest as a triumph of justice but the majority of toiling Filipinos consider it a gut punch as the ICC just handed over a roaring victory to the crime syndicates and drug cartels.

Duterte’s removal from the scene signals a free-for-all for the vicious forces he spent decades keeping at bay.

Now that the man who dared to take on the narco underworld is shackled in a strange land, criminals and their cohorts in government are popping the champagne and plotting their resurgence. Those who had endured being helpless prey to crime gangs that roamed the streets know the real score.

Duterte’s relentless campaign against crime and drugs resulted in thousands of deaths which, helped along by his uncouth mouth and grim resolve, were all blamed on him.

During his impromptu speeches on the anti-drug campaign, he would repeat his threat against drug dealers. Still, he would explain that most of the killings that happened were among rival syndicates, which had members of the police force in their ranks, as the market for narcotics had narrowed.

At the time, many drug dependents surrendered to the police while the more well-off were committed to rehabilitation, diminishing the drug market.

That translated to peace in communities as crime incidents dropped substantially since drug dependence is the primary trigger of delinquency.

Streets, primarily in urban areas choked with meth and misery, breathed easier. Families reclaimed neighborhoods as the dealers scurried into the shadows.

But like vampires who hide from the light, the nefarious underworld thugs have emerged from the darkness to once again rule the streets.

The feeling of dread when a family member is outside the home late at night has returned.

The crime wave is clawing its way back. Complaints are rising about emboldened syndicates, a resurgent drug trade, and a police force left rudderless in the absence of a fierce resolve.

Fear has crept back into homes, and the moral posturing has greased the wheels for narco domination. Duterte’s arrest has sent a clear message: take on the cartels and you’ll be the one in chains, not them.

The Philippine National Police has been disseminating data showing a plummeting crime rate, down 26.76 percent from 1 January to 14 February 2025, with focus crimes dropping from 4,817 to 3,528 compared to the same period in 2024.

The paradox, however, is that Filipinos are gripped by an unshakable dread that the streets are dangerous anew, that a crime wave fueled by narco politics is surging back with a vengeance.

While the PNP’s polished figures paint a picture of a cleaner, safer nation, walk the barangays, talk to the jeepney and taxi drivers, the vendors, the mothers clutching their kids a little tighter, and a different story emerges, one that doesn’t square with the massaged data.

Meth or shabu is flowing again on the streets and seems to have exploded with the arrest of Duterte as dealers take over street corners as if selling street food.

Cops now seem to be too scared or too compromised to push back, while their officers are too busy polishing their image to care about what’s happening on the streets. While the data says “safe,” the air reeks of fear.

The crime wave is back and no amount of statistics can bury that truth.

The syndicates and the cartels didn’t vanish, they waited in the background, and now they’re cashing in.