The fight against Drug Menace & the Menacing Philippine Dysfunction
The recent brouhaha over the Alabang Boys in the nations’ “fight” against the menace of drug addiction has again given us a circus freak side show where posturing and dysfunction is the order of the day. Yeah, not to be upstaged the Garcified President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has declared herself the “Drugs Czarina” hopefully not following the fate of the Czar and his family executed by the Bolsheviks but going successfully after the drug lords.
Ruffy Biazon a member of the House of Representative in his facebook describes the development in the scandal where a notorious military man known as the “butcher” General Jovito Palparan is dangled in the public to quench the lynch mob mentality of a populace so sick and tired of the Drug menace, to quote:
If we can only gather and collect those charges and counter-charges like a gold mine we would be rich by now and sadly that is the state of dysfunction that we see in a nation where disorder seems to be a constant in abnormalities of an abnormal situation truly makes it business as usual as normal as you can get.
Now what’s up with short cuts and a little “massage” here and there to run after drug dealers? It was obvious that PDEA’s Director Dionisio Santiago who once “joked” about planting evidence to keep drug dealers off the streets may have been taken seriously by his agents thus they have a problem prosecuting those they apprehend. The PDEA has one of the strictest rules on accountability imposed on their agents. Instead of finding ways to strictly abide by it for which they seem to be failing miserably actor turned Senator Bong Revilla wanted to introduce a bill that hopefully does not give them more leeway to “massage” their case. A bill that propose the creation of a special prosecutorial office within the PDEA that would be empowered to directly prosecute offenders involved in “no-bail” drug cases to give them prosecutor powers. How about just going back to your day job since you are doing great as an actor and leave the lawmaking to people who understand the law?
We have a problem and from an injustice secretary to comedian turned politician Tito Sotto they are dangling a notorious general who somehow gets linked to cases of disappeared activist, here is Ellen Tordesillas apt description of Sotto:
Exploiting the people’s frustration it now appears that some sectors in congress wanted to re-impose the death penalty but in a justice system that is perceived as corrupt the re-imposition of the death penalty while it sends shivers to the criminals also gives corrupt law enforcers and court personnel more leveraged in reaping a windfall like lotto winnings for the taking.
Ruffy Biazon a member of the House of Representative in his facebook describes the development in the scandal where a notorious military man known as the “butcher” General Jovito Palparan is dangled in the public to quench the lynch mob mentality of a populace so sick and tired of the Drug menace, to quote:
Once again, prudence and sensitivity to public opinion has taken a back seat in the appointment of another controversial figure to a government post.What is troubling is if indeed there is merit to the incompetent gathering of evidence of Major Fedinand Marcelino while being portrayed for his honesty that seems so rare nowadays it is not and should not justify a Machiavellian dictum of the end justify the means. Nor should one hurl bribery attempt and yet refuse to name his “mistah” who offered him the bribe smacks of dishonesty in itself and not exactly being honest..... and then we have the Butcher added to the mix truly makes you wonder what in the name of kurdapya are they thinking?
Retired General Jovito Palparan, who has earned the nickname “The Butcher” owing to his aggressive strategies in dealing with communist insurgents which coincided with suspected rebels turning up as dead bodies, will join the Dangerous Drugs Board in what appears to be an effort by government to show that it is serious in its campaign against illegal drugs.
In the wake of tarnished reputations of the DOJ and the PDEA due to allegations of bribery, case manipulation and incompetent law enforcement, the government now attempts to remedy the situation with the appointment of someone who has quite a colorful reputation himself, having been implicated in the abduction, torture and killing of the Manalo brothers ( Read it here and here ).
Will his reputation of employing extra-judicial methods be the cure for the ailing reputations of the DOJ and PDEA? Instead of gaining the confidence of the people, the Palparan appointment will only draw criticism and dilute whatever public support the government has in the fight against illegal drugs. Naturally, human rights and other progressive groups will raise a howl about the appointment. The grant of a position for Palparan will seem to them as a reward and condonation for the brutal acts being attributed to the retired general.
ON the other hand, it seems that the government is indeed harping on the reputation of Palparan as The Butcher in bolstering its campaign against illegal drugs. In other words, they are employing the scare tactic, sending a message to the drug traffickers that they better watch out, The Butcher is coming to town. “You wouldn’t want to end up dead floating in a creek with your fingernails removed and a bullet hole in your head", seems to be the message.
If we can only gather and collect those charges and counter-charges like a gold mine we would be rich by now and sadly that is the state of dysfunction that we see in a nation where disorder seems to be a constant in abnormalities of an abnormal situation truly makes it business as usual as normal as you can get.
Now what’s up with short cuts and a little “massage” here and there to run after drug dealers? It was obvious that PDEA’s Director Dionisio Santiago who once “joked” about planting evidence to keep drug dealers off the streets may have been taken seriously by his agents thus they have a problem prosecuting those they apprehend. The PDEA has one of the strictest rules on accountability imposed on their agents. Instead of finding ways to strictly abide by it for which they seem to be failing miserably actor turned Senator Bong Revilla wanted to introduce a bill that hopefully does not give them more leeway to “massage” their case. A bill that propose the creation of a special prosecutorial office within the PDEA that would be empowered to directly prosecute offenders involved in “no-bail” drug cases to give them prosecutor powers. How about just going back to your day job since you are doing great as an actor and leave the lawmaking to people who understand the law?
We have a problem and from an injustice secretary to comedian turned politician Tito Sotto they are dangling a notorious general who somehow gets linked to cases of disappeared activist, here is Ellen Tordesillas apt description of Sotto:
Sotto, bless his mental vacuity, welcomed Palparan to his turf. “If that is his image (butcher), then that will work well for us. It’s the drug traffickers who should fear him, not the public.”I say Tito Sotto should just stay as a comedian because in public office his jokes are laughable yet with deadly implications. Is it not that one of the contention of the prosecutors on the weakness of the case against the Alabang Boys with Fedinand Marcelino was their failure to follow the rules of gathering evidence, so why give them prosecutorial powers and appointing one who is perceived to be the police, judge, and executioner? Oh well, we may have sink further down the quagmire of desolation and it pains me to see some sectors the so-called proponents of "due process" defending the likes of Palparan, lucky for him he has people defending his innocence until proven guilty and yet those who disapeared are suffering in silence unable to defend themselves in the proper court or forums because they have been arrested if they luckily surfaced or politically abducted without a trace, tried, and executed by rouge military elements.
Exploiting the people’s frustration it now appears that some sectors in congress wanted to re-impose the death penalty but in a justice system that is perceived as corrupt the re-imposition of the death penalty while it sends shivers to the criminals also gives corrupt law enforcers and court personnel more leveraged in reaping a windfall like lotto winnings for the taking.
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Pedestrian Observer,
Would you be angry with me for saying that fear can be a good thing?
If the Dangerous Drug Board passes for comedy these days, the addition of Palparan in its ranks may make it a horror comedy.
Then again, I think drug users and drug traffickers really need to have someone to fear. This is the only thing they understand.
Paul,
No I don't get angry. I actually welcome views contrary to mine.
Now on fear as a good thing, it is if and that is a big if, is if the ones they fear strictly adheres to the rule of law. One who uses the rule of law and not one who breaks the law acting as the police, the judge and executioner all rolled into one. The other problem this pose is what if they were wrong and they salvage an innocent man or woman?
This is basically the problem why the Philippines is so screwed is that oftentimes we are willing to look the other way on issues we feel strongly about disregarding the rule of law. The dangers of the rule of man is very real that activist and those in the left have been subjected to that only heightens the conflict and radicalize the oppressed.
The breakdown is caused by greed and corruption and leaders openly flaunting their position to abuse the law. It is respect not fear that will bring law and order and this is not happening because of our pathetic state of political system in a very expensive fraudulent prone electoral exercise.
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