One’s gain, another’s lifeline
‘No one smuggles P10 billion worth of shabu unless there’s already a full-blown drug network running behind the scenes.’
Daily Tribune‘No one smuggles P10 billion worth of shabu unless there’s already a full-blown drug network running behind the scenes.’
It must be a coincidence, otherwise the resurrection of the yellow horde and the reign of their allies in the political spectrum coming with the surge in the narcotics trade presents a scary prospect.
Even enforcing authorities refuse to make a correlation between the return of the narco traffickers and the political groups that seem attached to it.
The nation’s head-long plunge into the narco culture during the yellow regime prompted Filipinos to vote into power former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte, the Davao City mayor, was ridiculed as a one-trick pony whose only offer in leading the country is stopping the drugs trade which he promised to do within six months from being elected.
Filipinos saw sincerity in his vow and despite timelines being missed not once but several times, his relentless campaign resulted in a huge reduction in the dreaded social curse.
Many Filipinos have noticed that the drug cartels appeared to have broken its shackles and were let loose after former President Duterte was hauled off to the International Criminal Court by General Nicolas Torre and the masters he is serving.
The seas also became a lot busier with the floating narcotics. making the drugs trade bigger than ever, a political commentator indicated.
Recently, P10 billion worth of shabu was intercepted off Zambales while another P8.8 billion turned over by fishermen in Luzon. Considering the dispersal of the substances in the sea, a bigger amount are estimated to have slipped through.
“No one smuggles P10 billion worth of shabu unless there’s already a full-blown drug network running behind the scenes,” Rob Rances, a lawyer and political analyst said.
Recent discoveries of “floating shabu” presents a parallel tale of resurgence, corruption, and systemic failure that fed the yellow mob’s comeback.
The mob finds strength during periods of political opposition, particularly after Duterte’s rise in 2016.
Shortly after, the yellow hypocrites were given up for lost particularly after the 2019 polls when the yellow Otso Derecho were shut out from the Senate race.
The narcotics trade diminished at the same as the ringleaders either migrated or were annihilated as the market shrank and competition tightened.
Both the yellow mob and the narcotics trade demonstrate resilience in the face of aggressive suppression which made them natural allies.
The common denominator of both is capitalizing on political vacuums resulting in enforcement gaps and corruption.
The yellow mob’s resurgence has been criticized as opportunistic, using the front of moral superiority while ignoring its own history of governance failures.
During the era of the two Aquinos, persistent corruption scandals, such as the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam, and the failure to address systemic poverty, fueled public disillusionment and paved the way for Duterte’s rise.
The yellow bloc aligned with elite interests allowing it to initiate self-serving agendas, similar to how drug syndicates exploit corrupt officials to maintain operations.
Thus, the downfall of one results in the collapse of the other in a mutually beneficial relationship.