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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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?
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| 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?
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| 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.
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