DRUG DEALING AND TRAFFICKING BIGGER TODAY Policy Peek EVEN in a society where drug dealing and drug trafficking are no longer out of the ordinary, the "shabu tiangge" in Pasig City that was busted by the police last week stands out as the biggest and most blatant drug den in the Philippines. They were called "restaurants" but were certainly not the places where you could sit down to eat because shabu was the only thing on the menu. To think that they had operated for more than a year under the very noses of police and city officials is truly incomprehensible. Politics aside, you have to support Congressman Dodot Jaworski's move to haul Mayor Vicente Eusebio of Pasig to court to determine his responsibility for the illegal operation, if not the alleged attempt at cover-up after the "shabu tiangge" was raided. While it was the police who were responsible for the raid based on a tip that they got, some members of the police themselves are saying that it is apparent that the "shabu tiangge" was given the green light to operate by their brothers in uniform, perhaps in return for bribes worth millions of pesos. Perhaps their activities were not even limited to just huge kickbacks and monthly retainers. It would not surprise me if the guilty officers (maybe some high-level commanders among them) set up the drug network themselves. The issue of police involvement in the case provides a microcosm of life in and around the police force. As chairman of the Citizens DrugWatch Foundation and previously the chairman of the Senate ad hoc committee on illegal drugs, I frequently exposed not only police officers, but also local officials who were directly involved in drug trafficking and drug dealing, as well as the members of judiciary who acted as their protectors. There were many cases when drug operations were granted by the police through a system of franchises. Their corrupt activities for sure extended beyond the drug trade. For instance, jueteng operations are also granted as franchises. However, getting involved in drug trade to me is the worst possible offense for the police because of the destruction it causes to our society. Seventy-five percent of all heinous crimes are drug-related and most drug users and addicts are 35 years old and below. The drug trade is literally destroying the country's future. The Philippine National Police has a lot of explaining to do as to where its intelligence funds go. If I were Congress I'd take it to task for not knowing about the "shabu tiangge" despite its substantial intelligence budget allocation. What exactly have they been doing about the money? Also, if ever there was a need for an exemption to the anti-wiretapping law, this would be the case. I personally wouldn't mind using listening devices and phone intercepts to monitor the police and find out who among them are coddlers or co-conspirators of drug dealers. We certainly need more sting operations to catch these police criminals but does the present administration have the political will to rock the boat so to speak in the police force when it direly needs the support of the men and women in uniform to hold on to power? Does it even have the moral ascendancy to root out the corruption not only in the police and the military, but also in the entire government itself, when its leader is accused of notoriously perverting the course of justice in the country? Nevertheless, it's sad to say the least that the very evils I've been fighting against several years ago in the halls of the Senate are still around today. Corrupt cops have not only survived but a new generation of police drug traffickers has surpassed the "old guard." Drug dealing and drug trafficking are bigger than ever today because of police-sanctioned illegal drug activities. It is inconceivable that such levels of corruption and abuse of power could exist without being known in the highest echelons of the police force. In the case of the "shabu tiangge," given the scale of the proceeds, more senior officers must have been involved than those already sanctioned. According to some friends in the media reports, some honest members of the police force have indicated that this (last week's drug bust) is just the tip of the iceberg; that the widespread corruption and the involvement of the police in the illegal drug trade and other criminal activities are embarrassing beyond belief, and that exposing this would surely and permanently damage the image of the police in the public's eye.
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