THE QUESTION KEEPS POPPING UP

Speaking Out

While we keep debating on punishment, drug lords are busy
selling

THE anti-drug campaign is gaining momentum. Everybody seems to be
pitching in from national agencies to local government units. This is
as it should be. For this is a war that we can not afford to lose.

Wherever she went the past week, the President exhorted people to
display the same intensity in fighting drugs just as we did in
fighting terrorism.

According to the President, the strategy should be non-partisan. The
fight should involve all sectors and all levels of society. As she
emphasized in Marawi City, where she held a command conference against
illegal drugs, we can not be divided along ethnic and religious lines.
Both national and local government units must be involved. Our network
of cooperation should not only be local but also transnational.

The war must also be fought from within. That is why the President has
admonished the PDEA to weed the hooligans out of the ranks of law enforcers.

Disturbing reports have reached the President of law enforcers making
milking cows out of drug operators. No wonder, big drug operators do
not get caught.

Likewise, there are reports of recycling and reselling of confiscated
drugs. To prevent this, confiscated drugs must be publicly destroyed
within a reasonable period in accordance with the provisions and
mechanics outlined in the law. The sad fact is that thousands of
kilograms of shabu still remain in police vaults long after they were
supposed to have been destroyed.

Unity is very important. The nation must be united, not divided, on
all issues relating the anti-drug campaign. Thus, it may not be timely
to spark extended debates on the death penalty while we are still
trying to consolidate the nation behind the war against illegal drugs.

The issue on the death penalty is highly divisive. While we are
debating on whether drug traffickers should be put to death or not,
whether they should be subjected to lethal injection or some other
means like firing squad, the drug lords are busy with their illegal
trade.

The important thing is to catch, try, convict and jail them first. On
this, I believe, we are united.