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Wednesday, June 25, 2003
Antalan: The drug menace
By Roger P. Antalan
'The war on drugs is a deadly war, no doubt about it. Sooner or later it will affect all of us. We must all be involved let us not watch from the sidelines. Let us not wait until our children or a loved one gets hooked. It might be too late.'
A FEW months ago, we wrote about the many evils and the terrible consequences of the use of prohibited drugs.
Recently alarm bells have been ringing vigorously. The headlines gave the disturbing report that there are now a total of 3.4 million users of illegal drugs nationwide, with 1.8 million of them using drugs regularly.
It is also reported that 65 to 70 percent of criminals being held in the country's prisons were convicted of drug-related crimes. Worse still, the users who were once considered victims have become victimizers themselves.
The staggering statistics underscore the urgency of addressing the drug problem forcefully. The burden of stopping this fast-growing drug menace falls heavily on the local police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). Unfortunately, many police officers have been reported to be either protectors of drug syndicates, users or even pushers.
Alarmed by the worsening drug problem, Pres. GMA has taken a direct hand in solving the drug menace. She has issued Executive Order No. 206, instructing all law enforcement agencies concerned, particularly the lead agency, PDEA, to come up with convincing results within the next three months.
She has earmarked P1 billion to fund the three-month anti-drug program; the biggest even in support of the continuing war against drugs. In that EO, the President declared: "There is an urgent need to pursue a forceful, intensive ad relenting campaign against drug trafficking and the use of illegal drugs whether syndicate or street-level."
It must be noted that Congress has passed a very tough anti-drug law that penalizes mere possession of a small amount of drugs with 13 years of imprisonment and selling as little as 50 grams of shabu with life imprisonment.
In some places, the drug pushers have been "salvaged", summarily short to death without due process. And yet, the drug problem has not abated, but has even worsened as the new findings state.
With all that money, P1 billion, and the no-nonsense mandate of the President, we should see a big decline in drug trafficking within three months.
In the meantime, on the local government side and among all the civilian population, we should all be worried and scared concerning the burgeoning drug problem. The way we were, and still are, worried and scared against the threats of terrorism and Sars.
Only recently, we embarked on a barangay to barangay, sector by sector, campaign to inform and prepare the people for the onslaught of possible terrorists' attacks and the coming of Sars. We should do the same against the drug menace and with greater determination. The law enforcement agencies cannot do it alone. This is the time to harness the vaunted Filipino people power, not at Edsa, but in all corners of the land. Remember the dictum: "The police are the people. The people are the police."
What is worrisome is the apathy and indifference of a lot of people with regard the proliferation of illegal drugs, especially among the young. Parents seem not to care, or are unaware, what their children are doing or subjected to outside the home.
In cases where people know that illegal drugs are being peddled or being used, they profess a hands-off attitude, believing that it is not their job, none of their business, or are afraid to be involved. We must therefore continue the orientation and information drive down to the grassroots levels. We must institutionalize the protection system for the assets and informers.
Take the case of well-informed young man, imbued with strength of character. Chided by his barkada in college for not joining the pot session, he told his friends: "Sorry, guys, I'm not going to blow up my brains now that I have reached college. I am not going to blow up all the hard-earned money of my parents."
The war on drugs is a deadly war, no doubt about it. Sooner or later it will affect all of us. We must all be involved let us not watched from the sidelines. Let us not wait until our children or a loved one get hooked. It might be too late.
(June 25, 2003 issue)
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