OPERATION No Second Chances scores again!
Okay, I made that name up but that is the only part that is a figment of the imagination. The rest are true: a reinvigorated campaign against drug lords and pushers, a take-no-prisoners attitude on the part of the police, and eight resultant deaths.
Three people, led by someone with a nickname that evokes images of hellish eyes, two horns and a tail, constituted the first batch of drug suspects who were felled by policemen's bullets. Rowen "Yawa" Secretaria and two of his cohorts never made it to the hospital after the encounter in Banacon, an islet off Bohol, two Saturdays ago.
Last Sunday, the police nailed, in another shootout, this time in Inabanga, their second set of targets: five men who were allegedly not only into the dangerous drug trade but were also guns for hire. Again, from the police's own account, the men fired at the law agents as they were approaching the gang's hideout, forcing them to fire back. The suspects apparently were poor marksmen because they died without inflicting as much as a graze on anyone in the police team.
Incoming president Rodrigo Duterte's tough and unwavering stance against crime and drugs has obviously rubbed off on the police who have so far shown no hesitation to shoot the suspect if, according to them, he shows resistance. If the police can sustain the drive, Duterte might just be able to keep his campaign promise to wipe out crime and criminals within the first six months of his term.
What a bloody six months it is going to be if the eight deaths in a period of eight days were to be an indication. Expect to see more people lying in pools of their own blood in the days to come as Duterte's purge of misfits continues. I just hope that none of those bodies belong to innocent civilians.
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The rains have come but water still has to show up in our tank. But the mosquitoes have, not in the tank but everywhere else. Health authorities are worried about another outbreak of dengue, which has become a regular, if unwanted, visitor at this time of the year.
Even if they are not dengue--or malaria--carriers, mosquitoes are a very pesky lot. They rob you of sleep and their bite causes you to itch. That is why we have invented the mosquitero (a Duterte favorite), mosquito coils, sprays and repellents along with racket-shaped swats and traps.
There is a huge demand for these merchandise and some enterprising businessmen are trying to cash in on it by importing them, mostly from China. Unfortunately, many of these items have not passed scrutiny by the Food and Drug Administration, prompting it to caution the public against buying these products.
In Advisory No. 2016-047 that it posted in its website, the FDA named the following brands as unsafe: Jinma Black Mosquito Repellent Incense Spirales Anti-Mosquitoes, Jinma Aerosol (also sometimes labeled as Sunflower or Jasmine) ) Insecticide, King Ma or Angel Aerosol Insecticide, Baoma 8-Power Mosquito Coil, Baoma Black Mosquito Repellent Incense Spirales Anti-Mosquitoes and Ba Ma Black Mosquito Repellent Incense.
In the same advisory, FDA likewise issued a warning against the following household/urban pesticides: Green Leaf Mouse and Rat Glue, Mouse Glue Board, Ratoeira Adhesiva Colorato and Happy Deer Pearl and Napthalene Balls.
Saying that these products have not been evaluated for safety and efficacy, the FDA advised the public not to buy or use them because "such products are harmful, toxic and may pose imminent danger to human and animal health." The advisory also said that the importation and sale, among others, of the products are illegal.
To avoid buying illegal or counterfeit pesticides, the FDA reminded the public to buy only from reputable stores or dealers, avoid buying pesticides that do not have instructions in English or Tagalog, on how to use them, and examine if the labels have FDA registration numbers as well as the active ingredients of the product.
(frankotherside@gmail.com)