WE are in rather interesting times, all because we have a president that is also turning out to be more than interesting. I watched on television President Rodrigo Duterte following up his “expose” on five police generals, two of them retired, with another “expose” on a “drug triad” and I could only shake my head in disbelief. What an interesting way to fight the illegal drugs menace.
Topping his most recent “expose” were the threats typical of Duterte because he did the same to other objects of his ire when he was still Davao City mayor. But listening to him tell on nationwide television a “Peter Lim,” who is “at large,” that he would be killed if he returns to the Philippines and Munti prisoners Wu Tuan and Herbert Colangco that they would be killed if they get out of prison, was different because he is now this country's president.
Perhaps, my reaction partly stemmed from the fact that the strategy Duterte is using to fight the illegal drugs trade is out of the ordinary. He is turning the usual processes followed by past presidents, except perhaps for that of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, on its head.
The usual process is for the military and the police, including the president, to keep those in the so-called Order of Battle list secret, as cases are being built up against them and operation to snag them waged. Duterte is making them public, obviously to force the hand of those in the list. Also, the usual process is for the accuser to prove the guilt of the accused. By publicly “naming” or “shaming” the accused, Duterte is forcing them instead to prove their innocence.
I am not saying that the strategy does not have an effect. I say that since Duterte assumed the presidency last June 30, the illegal drugs trade in the country is being shaken to the core.
At the lower level, the daily killings throughout the country of some suspected drug lords had the effect of instilling fear on even ordinary users of illegal drugs, pushing them to “surrender” to local authorities. At the higher level, the shame campaign is, I would like to believe, making the top personalities in the illegal drugs trade uneasy. The psychological warfare is succeeding—so far.
But it is precisely this setup that is worrying advocates of due process and the rule of law. The perception that the campaign is succeeding could lead to more serious excesses and abuses. The belief that the ends justifies the means and not the other way around could solidify, threatening democratic processes. That is why some sectors are turning ambivalent over the recent development in the fight waged by the Duterte administration against the illegal drugs trade.
Which reminded me of the opening paragraph of Charles Dickens' “A Tale of Two Cities”:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
(khanwens@gmail.com/ twitter: @khanwens)