Open season for narcos

“The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency had indicated that even a little slackening of resolve will allow the drugs syndicates to come back strong and even with full determination unseen before.

Of all the statements that President Rody Duterte had made, the public is expected to thumb down his suggestion to allow Vice President Leni Robredo to take charge of the anti-narcotics campaign.

Such an eventuality would bring to life the American movie “The Purge,” in which criminals and all dregs of the society were given the chance to do whatever they wanted for a night in an annual effort of the government to relieve social stress.

The difference with Rody’s proposal is that it would not be overnight but a whole six months that criminals would lord over the nation since Rody indicated that he would not interfere if Robredo accepts the challenge.

Six months is symbolic since it was the timeframe that Rody gave initially to finish off the narcotics trade which he later found to be too ambitious as he realized the extent of the illegal drugs problem that was left by the yellow administration of President Noynoy Aquino that Robredo now represents.

Anarchy had threatened to overran the country then with Noynoy’s sidekick Mar Roxas having jurisdiction over the Philippine National Police as the Interior Secretary.

With Leila de Lima, now detained for drug trafficking charges, as justice secretary and having the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) under her, the whole law enforcement function of government were heavily politicized in the previous regime.

It was then that the national penitentiary New Bilibid Prison was turned into a shabu manufacturing and distribution hub that allegedly benefited De Lima and her Liberal Party (LP).

Giving Robredo free rein on the narcotics problem would definitely result in a fast tracking, but backwards to zero, thus squandering the already huge gains achieved in the anti-narcotics campaign.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency had indicated that even a little slackening of resolve will allow the drugs syndicates to come back strong and even with full determination unseen before.

Exasperated with her wild allegations that started from the “palit-ulo” fish story before the United Nations, Rody said Robredo can take over “powers to enforce the law” for half-a-year.

“She takes charge. Let’s see what happens. I won’t interfere. You want it? You think that you are brighter than me? Try it for yourself,” he added.

Robredo, in an interview with international news agency Reuters, cited the “failed drug war” which “targeted the poor rather than big drug networks” and which should be halted.

Robredo later backpedaled, saying that she was misquoted and that she did not suggest the drug war to stop but merely wanted it “reassessed” given the rising number of drug-related deaths.

That was after she received severe bashing on social media from some of the 82 percent Filipinos who had supported the flagship campaign of Rody.

In making his offer, Rody is trying to prove that Robredo and the LP are still all talk while failing to offer any solution to the seemingly insurmountable problem on the illegal substance trade.

Offering a solution, however, is not the preoccupation of Robredo and the other detractors of Rody but a power grab is.

The ouster of the President, in turn, is heavily financed by narcotics syndicates through groups which hide behind the cover of being advocates of human rights.