Inmate Directed PNP-PDEA Operation From Inside His Cell Says NBI

Remember that PDEA-PNP misencounter back in February where both agencies end up firing at each other in public near a mall during what was supposed to be a regular buy-bust operation? Well, the NBI now has an answer as to why this happened. It wasn't the fault of either the PDEA or PNP but the fault of a sneaky drug lord who was directing the whole operation from inside his prison cell.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1436189/occidental-mindoro-inmate-dictated-tempo-of-drug-transaction-that-led-to-pnp-pdea-clash-nbi

An inmate at the Sablayan Penal Colony in Occidental Mindoro, right from inside his cell, “dictated the tempo” of the drug transaction that led to the deadly shootout between police officers and anti-drug operatives in Quezon City last Feb. 14, according to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Two police officers, a Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) operative, and an informant were killed in the shootout between agents of the PDEA Special Enforcement Service (SES) and the District Special Operations Unit (DSOU) of the Quezon City Police District.

Police maintained that they were conducting a legitimate buy-bust operation. They tapped Jonaire Decena, who was later revealed to be a detainee, as a poseur buyer, transacting with a certain James Tan.

Calls, video chats, and online messages between them were presented during the hearing.

According to Bacani, the Philippine National Police (PNP) submitted to the NBI a copy of the video call conversation between Decena and Tan. The NBI traced the call to the Sablayan Penal Colony.

It was an inmate there named Melvin Magallon, also known as Pawpaw, who first talked with Decena.

“But the picture in the cellphone of Mama Jo [that is, Jonaire Decena] was not that of Pawpaw,” Bacani told the committee in Filipino.

Bacani said James Tan was only used as a cover, but it was Magallon who was “dictating the tempo” of the transaction.

“It appears that he [Tan] was put there, but the one dictating the tempo is Pawpaw or Magallon,” the NBI official said.

In reaction, Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, the committee chair, pointed out that this was the reason why he was persistent in pushing for the reimposition of the death penalty — in order to stop drug dealers from operating even behind bars.

“If we had the death penalty, this Pawpaw who is imprisoned in Sablayan, would have been executed. Then there would have been no misencounter between PDEA and the PNP,” Dela Rosa said in Filipino

“We are being fooled by drug lords in prison. That’s why I appeal to my colleagues to reimpose the death penalty on high-level drug traffickers,” he added.

The gist of this tale is that a prisoner in Mindoro was running and directing a PNP-PDEA operation by using a fall guy. They even made video calls to each other. How was a prisoner allowed to make video calls when phones are not allowed inside prisons? Who cares!

Former PNP Chief and now Senator Bato sure does not care. Instead of rightly blaming corrupt BuCor officers and inept policemen he actually belittles the PNP by saying, "We are being fooled by drug lords in prison." Amazing. Is the PNP really so stupid as to be taken in by drug lords in prison? According to Bato they are. Who is running the show? It's like Con Air where the prisoners are actually dictating what is happening.

But it's not enough for Bato to belittle the PNP. He goes on to say, "If we had the death penalty, this Pawpaw who is imprisoned in Sablayan, would have been executed. Then there would have been no misencounter between PDEA and the PNP." He actually makes this instance of miscommunication between the PNP and PDEA, as well as obviously corrupt BuCor officials, into a case for the death penalty. That is a pure deflection from the issue of the incompetence and corruption of all agencies involved.

Instead of advocating getting rid of corrupt officials and making sure the PNP and PDEA are coordinating with one another regarding operations Bato's solution is to "Kill 'em all." And no wonder coming from the man who first directed Duterte's bloody war on drugs and said when a 3 year old during a drug bust, "Shit happens."

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/07/08/1933018/bato-sorry-shit-happens-remark-says-it-again-anyway

Sen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, former chief of the Philippine National Police, clarified that he made the wrong choice of words when he commented on the death of a three-year-old girl in a drug bust operation.

Last week, the neophyte senator said "shit happens" when asked about the demise of the girl, which drew criticism from rights groups.

"I will recall my word. Instead of 'shit' let us change it to 'unfortunate incident' (happens)," Dela Rosa told ANC' "Headstart" Monday.

What a sleight of hand from ol' Bato. He takes back the word "shit" and substitutes "unfortunate incident" without changing the meaning of his sentiment. It just looks better.  And that is what the PNP is all about when it comes to cleaning up corruption, looking good as opposed to being good. 

Will there be an investigation into exactly how Pawpaw was able to get a cellphone to make video calls and direct a PNP operation? Will there be real change within the BuCor, an agency Bato once headed and promised to clean up, or will there just be the status quo? I think we all know the answer.

Picture of the Week: No to Drugs

I saw this sticker on the back of a Hyundai. What I really like about it is the ambiguity.

This is not at all like, "Just say no," which is sensible advice. In fact it is Nancy Reagan's grandmotherly advice to the children of the United States to stay away from drugs. Imagine a concerned and sweet old lady telling the children of the nation not to use drugs because they are simply not good for you. It's endearingly persuasive because who wants to upset their grandmother?

"No to drugs or you'll lose your life" is much different. Combined with Duterte's fist it becomes a threat. Duterte is not giving grandfatherly advice. He is giving an ultimatum. Don't do drugs or you will die. How? Overdose? Motorcycle assassins? Could be either one. Could be both. An overdose on bullets! It's terrifying and not endearing in the least.

Look at the guy with his hands on his head like he's got a headache. At his feet there appears to be two beer bottles. Is he already wasted after two beers? What a lightweight! Maybe he is regretting having drunk the tasteless San Mig Light instead of the superior Red Horse. We all make bad decisions in life.

This sticker is rather hilarious but the sinister message it conveys and the bloody reality that backs it up is not.

The Nightcrawlers Documentary Review

Two documentaries about the Philippines' drug war have been released in 2019. The first one, On the President's Orders, caught the ire of the Palace with Panleo calling the film black propaganda before he even saw it. The second, The Nightcrawlers, appears to have slipped under Panelo's radar.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/films/the-nightcrawlers/#/

National Geographic, which is the studio releasing this documentary, describes the film thusly:

With unprecedented access, The Nightcrawlers is an unflinching exposé of Philippines President Duterte’s war on drugs, in which some claim over 20,000 people have been killed. RL, a former staff photographer for a prominent newspaper, leads the Manila Nightcrawlers, a small group of determined photojournalists on a mission to expose the true cost of the violent campaign. Through covering both sides of the conflict, The Nightcrawlers reveals a harrowing twist behind Duterte’s deadly crusade.

Just what they mean by "covering both sides  of the conflict" as well as the "harrowing twist" is not clear to me at all after having viewed the film.

Nightcrawler is the term for a photojournalist who works the night shift documenting crimes. In this movie there are two groups of nightcrawlers. The first is the group of the photojournalists. The second is a group of alleged assassins who call themselves "The Group." The film actually starts off on an island where members of The Group are preparing to go out on a mission.  We see them clean their weapons, sail to the mainland, and the camera follows their motorcycle as they ride into the city.

We then meet the real star of this picture, Raffy Lerma. He is racing to a scene to take pictures of another dead body. This time the victim is a 15 year old boy. Amazingly we even witness the moment he takes his world famous Pieta photograph.

With all the voice overs from Duterte about wanting to kill drug users and pushers and from various media reciting the body count one is left with the distinct impression that the man in this photo, Michael Siaron, is an EJK victim done in by the cops or The Group. The filmmaker never tells the audience that Michael was a drug pusher and that his killer was a man who worked for a drug syndicate named Nesty Santiago. Whether or not you buy the PNP's assertion of that the filmmaker should have included that information somewhere in the film.  Perhaps at the end where they include the following tidbits:

"Police collusion with extrajudicial killings was noted in Amnesty's 2017 report which cited senior police figures as the source."

As far as covering both sides of the conflict we never hear a single word from the police in their defence. We only hear from the journalists and the alleged assassins. At just past the thirty minute mark the film takes a surprising twist and leaves the Philippines altogether. We see Raffy Lerma as a guest on Democracy Now, a radio show out of NYC, and we see him at a bar speaking to the Foreign Correspondents Club in Bangkok. The last 10 minutes of the film is basically Raffy Lerma the Crusading Journalist. His pictures will stop the killings.

At 30:25 the film shows us an art installation by Carlo Gabuco. On the wall are photographs of the dead. In the centre of the room is a blue chair.  You sit in the chair and listen to a girl all about the death of her father.  It is only then you realise the chair you are sitting in has a bullet hole and is the chair in which he was killed.

Curated by Erwin Romulo, with photography by Carlo Gabuco, music by Juan Miguel Sobrepeña, sound system design by Mark Laccay, and lighting design by Lyle Sacris, the chilling exhibit is set in a dimly lit room at the fair’s venue. The entire left side of the wall displays hundreds of Gabuco’s photos of various killings and the bloody aftermath of the president’s war on drugs. To recreate the feeling of stepping into a crime scene, Sacris hung up a few dangling lights that rotated and flickered, while Sobrepeña provided an eerie background noise to accompany the heart-wrenching scene in each of the photos and Laccay designed the sound system, which played Christine's voice recording.

https://www.townandcountry.ph/out-about/arts-culture/art-fair-philippines-2018-everyday-impunity-a00184-20180302

Exploitation or art?  You decide! It is certainly not nightcrawling.

The best parts of this entire film are the brief times we spend with The Group.  Who are these people? How did the filmmaker get access to them? Why did they give this access? Why isn't the film all about them? At one point we even get a first person perspective as they go on a mission to kill. The screen turns green as the night vision comes on.  The target is spotted. And then....I won't spoil it for you but this footage raises so many ethical and practical questions. Did the filmmaker supply them with a camera? Does The Group have their own cameras and do thy regularly film their work? Is it morally proper or even lawful for a documentarian to get an assassin squad to film their activities so he can use it in his documentary?

It is rather callous and hard-hearted to be making a documentary about the victims of the drug war and to film their alleged assassins prepping like beauty queens getting ready for a pageant. Other words spring to mind like disingenuous, exploitative, cynical. It is rather unbelievable that these men actually are a group of assassins one of whom claims to be working as a tour guide during the day. Take the testimony of "Blix."

Starting at 23:09 we here the following from "Blix" who is a member of The Group.

In the beginning it was still good. We took down many wanted people but there was one time the police covered up for us. We hit the wrong guy. It was a mistake. We planted drugs and guns on the victim so our group wouldn't be blamed. It was the police who created our group. They co-ordinate our operations. 

He then shows a video on his phone and says:

These are members of my group. They've been arrested on TV but it's just for the cameras. These guys are all back with us now. They're free. They were all set free. Those police operations - don't believe them. The news - it's all lies. 

The video "Blix" shows us is from CNN.  Here is what see in the film.

Blurring out the face of PNP Chief Bato is a rather strange editorial choice. I gather the CNN logo was blurred so CNN does not come around asking for money to use their video. Here is the original.

"Blix's" story is easily verifiable. All one has to do is check the jail records to find out whether or not Manuel Murillo, Marco Morallos, and Alfredo Alejan were released. The group these men claimed to be part of is the CSG or Confederate Sentinels Group. That would mean "Blix" is also a part of the CSG and that the PNP created the CSG. If I had the resources I would certainly check out his story. Did the filmmaker do that? I certainly challenge any journalist or anyone with the proper access who has watched this film or read this review to verify what Blix has told us. The truth or falsity of his story makes or breaks the conceit of this film which is that the PNP is behind all the killings. At least all the killings The Group claims to have committed.

Overall this film is a real disappointment. I was expecting an hour or so of gritty Manila nighttime shots with photojournalists crawling from crime scene to crime scene documenting the dead. What I got was Raffy Lerma boasting that he can change the world with his photographs and a lot of other pointless fluff. There is even a bit about press freedom. Why? In a movie that is supposed to be "an unflinching exposé of Philippines President Duterte’s war on drugs" it is completely out of place and that juxtaposition is the problem with the documentary as a whole. This film lacks focus. In contrast On the President's Orders found a subject and stuck with it. The filmmaker, Alexander Mora, was in the country for months documenting and it is difficult to believe this is the best of his hundreds of hours of footage. Perhaps the blame lies on the producer Joanna Natasegara.

A lot more could be said but I will end with one last thing. The film is available to stream on the National Geographic website but only if you live in the USA.

While I torrented my copy from the usual place not everyone knows how to do that. What is the point of this film and its accompanying discussion guide if Filipinos cannot watch it? On the Take Action page Rappler is listed as a resource to get information about the Philippines' war on drugs but Rappler would be insignificant to anyone outside the country. The film is clearly intended to be a rallying call that inspires people to take action so it seems rather odd to not make the film available in the Philippines.

The Justification of Leni Robredo

Remember when Leni Robredo was the drug czar for a brief 3 weeks?  Remember when Robreo said she wanted to talk to the US embassy and the UN and other agencies in order to help coordinate with the drug war? Remember then how Duterte warned her to watch out or else she could be charged with treason for revealing "state secrets"?  Remember how the whole of DDS latched on to that poisonous insinuation that Robredo might be a traitor because of sharing "state secrets" with foreign countries? 

All these people have been proven to be fools because the United States embassy has recently released a fact sheet detailing cooperation with the Philippines in the drug war. It will do good to publish the entire fact sheet here.

https://ph.usembassy.gov/fact-sheet-us-anti-narcotics-cooperation-with-the-philippines/

The United States has partnered with Philippine government agencies and law enforcement officials for many years to reduce drug demand, provide training on anti-narcotics techniques, and enhance the criminal justice sector’s ability to handle drug cases. 

Support for Drug Demand Reduction 

• Since 2017, the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs has budgeted more than $5,250,000 (Php 266,700,000) for drug demand reduction programs in the Philippines. These programs reduce substance abuse through prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and policy development.

• USAID’s $15,000,000 (Php 762,000,000), five-year, RenewHealth: Expanding Access to Community-Based Drug Rehabilitation project works in partnership with Philippine government agencies and communities to improve the quality of community-based drug rehabilitation and recovery (CBDR) and reduce drug dependence. RenewHealth will enable healthy behaviors and demand for CBDR services; enhance the quality of CBDR services; and strengthen the policies and systems for sustainable CBDR service delivery.

• USAID’s $100,000 (Php 5,080,000) Zones of Positive Change program creates safer spaces in Metro Manila for people who use drugs, through a comprehensive community rehabilitation program based on respect for human rights and harm reduction.

Anti-Narcotics and Law Enforcement Training 

• The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Manila Country Office provides training on a range of narcotics-related topics: drug interdiction, evidence processing, interview techniques, chemical diversion investigations, clandestine laboratory investigations, and other specialized narcotics-related topics.

• The Federal Bureau of Investigation, through its Legal Attaché in Manila, regularly shares knowledge and capabilities, and provides training on a range of law enforcement best practices, including interviewing techniques, evidence collection, and leadership training.

• The United States collaborated with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in 2013 to establish the Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group (NAIA-IADITG).  Since its inception, the NAIA-IADITG has successfully deterred, prevented, and apprehended a range of narcotics shipments to transnational criminal drug trafficking organizations and their affiliates operating in the Philippines.

• The Department of Justice, Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training conducts regular trainings with prosecutors and investigators on the rule of law.  These trainings and roundtables cover investigative techniques, effective ways to build criminal investigations while protecting human rights, and handling of cases in court.

International Engagement 

• The U.S. government, through the Drug Enforcement Administration, also hosts and invites its Philippine law Enforcement partners to the International Drug Enforcement Conference (IDEC) annually. IDEC is a global forum that provides an opportunity for senior drug law enforcement officials to meet, deliberate, and determine the most effective strategies to attack and defeat criminal drug trafficking organizations.

• The U.S. Embassy has supported the travel of Philippine delegates participating in demand reduction conferences, such as the annual International Society for Substance Use Professionals conference and the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America Training Institute.  These international conferences expose senior government officials to international standards in both prevention and treatment.

Look at bullet point number 1. Money given to the Philippines from the USA helps with POLICY DEVELOPMENT!! You can't get more meddling than that! In what way exactly is the USA helping to shape the drug war policy in the Philippines? Would be interesting to know for sure.

USAID is also contributing to the Philippines drug war! Don't forget that USAID is a CIA front! Don't tell Thinking Pinoy or he might have a heart attack.  Imagine the government receiving USAID money! I wrote about NGO's receiving USAID money before. Read about it here. 

How about the PDEA and the USA collaborating to establish Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group?  What does the PDEA have to say about this?

Cacdac thanked the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (US-DEA) and the Joint Inter-Agency Task Force-West (JIATF-W) for their support to the project through funding the establishment of the CRK-Operations Center, equipment provision and trainings. 

“The CRK-IADITG is a collaboration that will demonstrate once again closer working relationship among its member-agencies with interrelated mandates concerned with the safety and security of the country’s airports from illegal drugs,” Cacdac noted.

http://pdea.gov.ph/10-news/57-pdea-leads-drug-interdiction-task-group-at-clark-international-airport

Right on their website the PDEA thanks the US DEA for helping them out in the drug war for providing funding for the CRK-Operations Centre at Clark airport! That is not NAIA!  That means the US has been helping out in more than one airport!!

Here is some news from 2016 when Dutere was president!

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Office at the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines received information that a traveler aboard an incoming international flight from Togo, transiting Addis Ababa, was suspected to be carrying contraband. DEA shared this tip with the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group (NAIA IADITG), a task force led by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). Upon arrival of the flight, the NAIA IADITG identified the Malaysian passenger, and the Philippine Bureau of Customs discovered approximately 4.6 kilograms of cocaine pellets in his luggage. The subject was arrested. 

The NAIA IADITG is a multi-agency task force led by PDEA that was established in a cooperative effort between the Philippine government and DEA. The task force receives training, equipment, and infrastructure support from the U.S. government.

https://ph.usembassy.gov/us-philippine-cooperation-leads-counternarcotics-arrest-naia/

The task force received training, equipment, and infrastructure support from the U.S. government.  And yet Leni might be a traitor for going to the US embassy for help in the drug war. How ridiculous is that??  Did the media ever report on the US's involvement in the establishment of the NAIA IADITG?  Here is a news story from 2013.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency on Friday inaugurated an inter-agency anti-drugs operation center at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport complex, Terminal 3. 

PDEA said the center shall serve as an operations, coordination and administrative hub of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group.
PDEA director general Arturo Cacdac Jr. said the inauguration and turn-over ceremonies was attended by US Ambassador to the Philippines HarryK Thomas Jr., who was also the guest of honor of the event. 

The ceremonies were also witnessed by heads and key officials of member-agencies of the NAIA-IADITG. 

Known as the NAIA-IADITG Operations Center, the center is created following a memorandum of agreement signed by PDEA, the Manila International Airport Authority, Office for Transportation Security, National Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice-National Prosecution Service, Bureau of Customs, Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force, Bureau of Immigration, and the PNP Aviation Security Group, on Sept. 29, 2011.

https://www.philstar.com/nation/2013/04/19/932549/anti-drugs-ops-center-opens-naia

Why was the US Ambassador to the Philippines a guest of honour? Philstar does not tell us but now we know it is because the USA helped establish this task force. Just look at all the Philippine law enforcement organisations participating in this task force.  They are all working in tandem with the US.

During the brief time that Leni was the drug czar not a single government official made a peep about the collaboration between the USA and the Philippines in the drug war. Instead Duterte poisoned Leni in front of the whole nation by indicating she might be guilty of treason for revealing state secrets and he called her stupid for going to the Americans and not the barangay captains.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/715651/duterte-threatens-to-fire-robredo-if-she-reveals-state-secrets/story/

Duterte, in an exclusive interview with GMA News' Marisol Abdurahman on Balitanghali Weekend, made the pronouncement when asked regarding Robredo's meeting with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), community-based advocacy groups and U.S. Embassy officials to discuss the drug problem in the country. 

"There's a limit to that. I know that she's a lawyer and she has other advisers... There are certain matters that should be kept with the government, that classified matters cannot be shared. Once [she does] that, she's out, I would fire her. Because you jeopardized the security of the state," Duterte said.

This would have been an opportune time to inform the nation that the USA and the Philippines are partners in the drug war and have been so for years.  But he did not do that? Why not?  What did he do after he fired her?  He publicly insulted her.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/717181/robredo-made-an-a-hole-of-herself-as-icad-chair-says-duterte/story/

“Instead of talking to the law enforcement, instead of talking to the barangay captains, instead of talking to itong mga taong handling the rehabilitation, she made an asshole of herself,” Duterte told reporters in Malacañang.

Again instead of acknowledging that the USA collaborates with the Philippines in the war on drugs he chose to ignore this fact and insulted her. Does he not know the PDEA and the USA collaborate?  Does PDEA head Aquino not know this? Is there anyone in the government that knows this fact? Why did no one mention it? Why did it take the US embassy to quietly release this fact sheet to set the record straight? 

The damage has already been done.  All across social media Leni was maligned by DDS as a potential traitor.

I never thought there was anything funny about Leni going to see the US embassy because the US is close partners with the Philippines in the war on terror among so many other things. On this blog I have written many times about Operation Pacific Eagle. The USA is an important ally and partner with the Philippines. The most recent SWS survey says Filipinos think it is more important to cultivate ties with the USA than with China.

https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2019/12/7/us-china-philippines-relationship-sws.html

Whatever the validity of this survey it is indisputable that behind the scenes Duterte has continued the tradition of courting the USA in matters of national security. From Operation Pacific Eagle to the signing of the EDCA pact to the Marawi siege.

The USA has always been intimately involved in the affairs of the Philippines. That is a fact that continues to the present day. Why won't Duterte admit this? More importantly why can't his supporters see through his lying rhetoric?

Duterte's Contradictory Statements About His Drug War

Make no mistake the drug war is the defining policy of Duterte's presidency. It's not that there was no war on drugs before Duterte. The PDEA was formed in 2002 with the task of combating the illegal drug problem. The Dangerous Drug Board or DDB was founded in 1971 with the same task as the PDEA, combating illegal drugs. Contrary to what disinfo agents would have the people believe large amounts of shabu were seized during the Aquino and previous administrations. The point is the Philippines has always been at war against illegal drugs. 

What separates Duterte from past presidents is his violent rhetoric against users and dealers and the actual violence which follows. Thousands have been killed all because Duterte has directed the PNP to do so with the promise of protection. Of course those same disinfo agents would howl at that statement and say there is no correlation between Duterte's words and the real world violence which follows his pronouncements.

Maybe they are right. At any rate Duterte's rhetoric about his drug war is so confusing that nothing he says can be taken at face value. Recently Duterte has said his drug war is not a failure.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1087511

The national government's crackdown on illegal drugs is not a failure, President Rodrigo Duterte said on Friday. 

The President said it was "stupid" to claim that his anti-narcotics campaign is a failure, stressing that his fight against illicit drug sale is a "never-ending war." 

"Anong palpak? Kailan naging palpak? Kayo ang palpak (What do you mean failure? When did it become a failure? The failure is you)," Duterte said in an exclusive interview with CNN. 

"All stupid remarks coming out from an empty head. Anong palpak (How does it become a failure)? The war on drugs is a continuing one in all countries, even in America. You know that. Do not pretend. If you are not stupid, do not pretend to be stupid. Alam ninyo iyan (You know that). It is a never-ending war," he said.

When did the drug war become a failure? Good question. I will let Duterte answer that.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2019/04/03/news/latest-stories/duterte-drug-war-in-ph-failed/534895/534895/

Rather than quote from this article I will quote from the speech on which this article is based.

Kaya unang-una ‘yang droga. It’s swallowing the country. Mababasa mo everyday, everyday ‘yang crawler ng lahat ng networks TV, meron talaga ‘yan droga bilyon, bilyon. Noon titingi-tingi lang by the thousands. Ang droga hindi ko nga makontrol, p***** i** pinapatay ko na ang mga hindot na ‘yan.[cheers]Nandiyan pa rin ‘yung droga. Mas lalo tuloy tumindi. Kaya ang tanong naman ng mga ibang opisyal, ito ba’y tagumpay?  

Now sabihin ko sa inyo hindi because worldwide ‘yan. It’s a worldwide problem ngayon ang droga pati China, Taiwan; at marami na ang tinamaan. Kaya itong isang siyudad ‘pagka pumayag ang mayor pati pulis, patay na. Kasi kung ayaw ng mayor, ayaw ng chief of police, walang droga.

That roughly translates to:

So first the drug. It's swallowing the country. You can read everyday, every day the crawler of all TV networks, there are actually billions, billions. At that time only by the thousands. The drug is out of my control, p ***** i ** I'm killing the damn thing. So much the more. 

So the other officials ask, is this a success? Now I tell you not because it's worldwide. It's a worldwide problem today as well as China, Taiwan; and many were hit. So it was a city 'when the mayor and police agreed, they were dead. Because if the mayor doesn't want it, the police chief doesn't want it, no drugs.

https://pcoo.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20190402-SPEECH-OF-PRESIDENT-RODRIGO-ROA-DUTERTE-DURING-HIS-ATTENDANCE-TO-THE-PARTIDO-DEMOKRATIKO-PILIPINO-LAKAS-NG-BAYAN-PDP-LABAN-CAMPAIGN-RALLY.pdf

Right there he says the drug war is not a success and that drugs are swallowing the country. There you have it. The drug war is a failure.  So much so that during a speech Duterte gave in February he proclaimed that 7-8 million people are now on drugs. 

https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/02/24/7-8-million-filipinos-enslaved-by-drugs-duterte/

Again this is an article based on a speech and it will be best to quote from the speech.

I’d place it about seven to eight million now. Now tell me. There are seven to eight million Filipinos reduced to slaves to a drug called shabu. Seven to eight million lost souls.

https://pcoo.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/20190224-Speech-of-President-Rodrigo-Roa-Duterte-during-the-Partido-Demokratiko-Pilipino-Lakas-ng-Bayan-PDP-Laban-Laguna-Campaign-Rally.pdf

This figure contradicts his previous pronouncement of 4 million and shows an incredible growth in the number of addicts. If the number of addicts has increased then how can the drug war be considered a success by any means?  The PNP, the PDEA, and the NBI even agreed with Duterte that 7-8 million Filipinos had become addicted to drugs.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/02/28/1897470/pnp-pdea-nbi-agree-dutertes-estimate-8m-drug-users-has-basis

Agencies involved in the government's campaign against illegal drugs believe President Rodrigo Duterte "has basis" to say that there are now seven to eight million drug users in the Philippines, up from 4 million claimed in 2017. 

The figure of four million was itself higher than an estimate by the policy-making Dangerous Drugs Board of 1.7 million users based on its survey. 

Senior Superintendent Bernard Banac, Philippine National Police spokesperson, said Thursday at the "Real Numbers" press briefing that the president "has wide access of information and unlimited sources of intelligence," which, he said makes the PNP inclined to say there is basis for the estimate. 

On Wednesday, Director General Oscar Albayalde, PNP chief, said that the police do not have a verified number of drug users in the Philippines, stressing that "an estimate is just an estimate."

The president has access to information the PNP does not. The makes total sense. In February the PNP may have had no verified number of drug users but by October they had something close to that.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1183440/pnp-records-1-5-million-drug-users-in-3-year-drug-war

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said 1.5 million drug users have been “accounted for” since the start of the Duterte administration’s anti-drug campaign in 2016. 

This is different from President Rodrigo Duterte’s estimate of 7 to 8 million drug users. 

“We have accounted for 1.5 million drug users for the last three years,” PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac told ABS-CBN News Channel on Wednesday when asked about PNP’s records on drug users. 

Banac said their records were based on the drug users who “users voluntarily surrendered and made themselves accounted for.” 

Asked if Duterte was misinformed, Banac said the President may have a wide source of information. 

“Well we can always say that because the President has wide source of information so when he makes that estimate there could be a basis on that,” Banac said.

1.5 million is a far cry from 7-8 million and very close to the DDB's estimate of 1.7 million back in 2016.  Of course the PNP will never say publicly that Duterte is misinformed. He would immediately dismiss the person who said such a thing. And it's not true either. Duterte is not misinformed. He is bloviating, pontificating, taking just to talk, blowing a lot of hot air. And he admits that is just how he is.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/11/30/1973139/duterte-dumping-bodies-remark-only-meant-scare-drug-lords

President Rodrigo Duterte clarified his earlier remark that he dumped bodies of drug lords in Manila Bay and Laguna Lake. 

“Tinatakot lang kita para huwag na lang sana (I just scare you to prevent the actual act)...I will scare you, or would you rather that I will not scare you? I just kill you already,” Duterte told CNN Philippines in a Friday evening interview. 

The president also said it’s just his manner of speaking and that he would not change it.  

(My mouth is foul. Definitely…But when I’m mad, I will not you know, I will not change my whole being.) 

“It's not just my penchant to use cuss words. Ugali... Ano ko na ito, part of my being.”
(Attitude... That’s just me, it’s part of my being.)

In his castigating of Robredo Duterte says the drug war is a never ending war. Presumably that would mean the drug war will never end. And if the drug war will never end there will always be drug lords.  Why then does Duterte insist that the next PNP Chief must guarantee he will eliminate all the drug lords?

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/273409/duterte-wants-next-pnp-chief-to-guarantee-end-to-drug-lords

The President said recommendations were not enough for him to name the next PNP chief, and that he wanted a guarantee that all drug lords would be killed to end the scourge of illegal drugs.

“I mean they’re all good, but I want a better deal. It’s not enough that you recommend to me. If you tell me, ‘sir, if you choose me, all the drug lords are dead,’ then it’s you. If you cannot give me that guarantee, never mind,” he added.

Why would Duterte require this guarantee when he has already said the drug war is not winnable?

https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/08/12/Duterte-war-on-drugs-cant-control-drug-problem.html

"Hindi makaya nga ng iba, tayo pa kaya? Iyong drugs na iyan (Others can't do it. How can we? Those drugs), we can't control it," Duterte said.

Interestingly enough the transcript of this speech on the PCOO website leads to a 404 error page. If Duterte says drugs cannot be controlled and if he calls his drug war not a success how can he expect the next PNP Chief to eliminate all the drug lords?

I am sure I could go on and on posting contradictions Duterte has made about his drug war but these will suffice for now. Why does Duterte constantly make so many contradictions when he talks about the drug war? I think it's because there is no firm policy in place except to kill drug users and dealers. That is what he has said over and over in speech after speech and one is forced to take a hard look at his words and the violence which follows.

Is Duterte really the Superhero Icon of the Hong Kong Action Film "White Storm 2?"

Time for a mother movie review! Ths time it's a Hong Kong action film titled "White Snow 2: Drug Lords" starring Andy Lau.

What does a Hong Kong action film have to do with the Philippines you ask? Because DFA Secretary Teddyboy Locsin has tweeted to the whole world that this movie is a vindication of Duterte's war on drugs and that Duterte is the movie's SUPERHERO icon for the fight against drugs.

Is this true? Does the hero of the movie "White Snow 2" dedicate himself to Duterte's war against drugs? Does he really donate tens of millions of dollars to Duterte's war on drugs?  There is only one way to find out and that is to watch the movie.

"White Snow 2" is a tale of two friends, Tin and Dizang, who drift apart. Tin leaves his drug and gangster lifestyle to become an obscenely wealthy broker. Dizang works his way up the chain and becomes a big time drug dealer. Both are number one in their respective trades.

Tin's past comes back to haunt him as receives a letter from an ex-girlfreind who is dying of terminal cancer in the Philippines. She tells him she was pregnant with their son Danny before she left him and that know he is a drug addict and she wants Tin to look after him. Feeling the burden of this knowledge he immediately books a flight to the Philippines.

Tin is so wealthy he is able to bribe the PNP  to take him to a drug den where his son lives. 

Wow so much danger that they actually pull into a drug area in a limo!

"Where there are drugs, there's gonna be danger," says the PNP officer to Tin. Amazingly enough these officers, with no gear or masks like in On the President's Men, bust into the drug den and shout, "Where's Danny!" An incredible rooftop chase follows. Danny slips and dies.

In the next scene we see Tin at a drug rehab centre for youth. Along the way the man in charge leading him around says:

Drug is a very big problem in the Philippines. Our President claims that 75% of crimes are drug related. 

Tin is shown a large cell where people are writhing on the ground as they experience the pain of withdrawal.

At the end of Tin's tour of this rehab centre he gives his tour guide a check of an undetermined amount as a donation. How do I know that he is giving a donation to a drug rehab centre?  Because at 22:36 we see him leave the building and it clearly says Drug Addict Centre on the big sign out front. Also later on in the film at the 1 hour and 4 minute mark we learn this fact explicitly.

Next we see Tin sitting in his hotel room watching TV.  He is listening to somebody on TV talk about his war on drugs.

"You can hit 7 or maybe 10 and yet the people are wallowing in agony and suffering. My war against drugs will not stop until the end of my term. Until the last pusher, or drug lord, are killed. You know what? For those who are listening simultaneously, the bad people, just stop if you are doing bad things. I will not let you succeed." 

Ok there is a Philippine flag standing next to the podium so I guess this is supposed to be the President of the Philippines.

Looks more like Moe from the Three Stooges than Duterte!

Oh a wise guy eh!?

Tin is very inspired by this speech.  The camera pans on his face as he watches and we can see his thoughts working. What will he do?  Without giving too much away Tin goes back to Hong Kong and starts killing drug lords! 

But note that. He starts killing DRUG LORDS! At 1 hour and 10 minutes Tin is confronted by the media and he says:

"I sympathise with drug addicts. The problem with drugs is not their fault. The root problem is the drug lords. Without drug lords there'll be no drug problem." 

Everyone shouts, "What can we do!?"

Tin says:

"I hereby announce I'll pay a $100M bounty if anyone can kill the biggest drug lord."

At the end of the film a police officer and Tin have the following exchange:

Tin: The law can't punish him. Let me kill him.
Officer: That's enough. You can't kill all the drug lords in the world. Leave him to me.
Tin: I don't care! I'll kill as many as I can!

The movie concludes with Tin dead in his pursuit of killing Hong Kong's biggest drug dealer which just happens to be his old partner in crime Dizang.

So was Teddyboy right?  Was this movie a vindication of Duterte's war on drugs? Is Duterte the superhero icon of the film? The answer is a big NO!!!

First of all Teddyboy can't even get the plot right as Tin does not go to the Philippines AFTER his son dies but in order to find his son who is living in the Philippines as a drug addict.  Second of all Tin does not donate tens of millions to Duterte's war on drugs.  He makes out a check of unspecified amount to a drug rehab centre! That is because in Hong Kong Tin is involved in funding many anti-drug programs.

The speech of the fictional Philippine president appears to be copied from a speech Duterte gave in Singapore in December 2016. Watch the video here.

My campaign against drug will not stop until the, until the end of my term. That will be six years from now. Until the last pusher and the last drug lord are...

https://pcoo.gov.ph/dec-16-2016-speech-of-president-rodrigo-duterte-during-the-meeting-with-the-filipino-community-in-singapore-the-max-pavilion-and-hall-9/

After the word "are" Duterte then drags his finger across his neck and makes a noise like he is cutting off someone's head. The fictional president in this movie makes the same gesture. But take note again in this fictional speech the president says he will go after pushers and drug lords.  This is what Tin does. He kills drug lords. He sympathises with addicts.  The real president of the Philippines, Duterte, has no sympathy for addicts.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/30/rodrigo-duterte-vows-to-kill-3-million-drug-addicts-and-likens-himself-to-hitler

“Hitler massacred three million Jews ... there’s three million drug addicts. There are. I’d be happy to slaughter them.”

Tin does not go after addicts.  He only goes after drug lords. He sympathises with addicts. He funds programs to help them.  That is the complete opposite of the real Duterte. It is only after his son dies and he hears the speech of President Moe Howard that Tin decides violence might be the best way to solve the problem.

Tin's attempt to put into practice the fictional Philippine President's kill all the drug lords rhetoric ends with his own death!  

There are two morals to this movie. The first is that you cannot get rid of your past.  The second is violence is not the answer. Killing everyone will not solve the drug problem even if those you kill are all drug lords. You live by the gun, you die by the gun. A basic Christian principle from the lips of Jesus in Matthew 26:52. Violence is not the answer to the drug war. "White Snow 2" is a stunning rebuke to Duterte's war on drugs! Duterte is no superhero icon.  He is a warning sign to those who think violence can solve anything.

The message and the moral of "White Snow 2" are the exact opposite of what Teddyboy would have you believe.  Why does he constantly lie?