When we talk about Duterte's legacy we cannot simply refer to Duterte alone. He is one man who ultimately does nothing but give orders. He does not control the economy or the military or the police or any other group. He gives directions and the men who run the various organizations do their best to follow his directions. But what if there were no President? Would the PNP and AFP then be left without a mission? It seems that is the case.
If Duterte's legacy is that the drug problem was finally squashed that is a shameful condemnation of the PNP, PDEA, and other groups tasked with enforcing drug laws.
 |
| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1145584 |
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar on Thursday acknowledged that the anti-illegal drug campaign is one of the main achievements of the Duterte Administration.
Eleazar's statement came following Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque’s assessment that the anti-illegal drugs campaign is among the administration's achievements.
"Out of 42,045 barangays, 21,891 barangays have been cleared. Ngayon lang nangyari ito sa kapanahunan ng Pangulong Rodrigo Roa Duterte (This only happened during the term of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte)," Eleazar said.
Latest government data also showed that during 200,632 anti-illegal drug operations by the different law enforcement agencies since 2016, a total of 289,622 suspects were arrested while 6,117 suspects were killed.
The total value of illegal drugs and laboratory equipment confiscated in these anti-illegal drug operations was placed at PHP59.14 billion. Eleazar vowed that the PNP would remain relentless in its anti-illegal drug operations and in its drive to put a stop to the illegal drug trade.
"This only happened during the term of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte." Do these people even stop to think about what they are saying? Why is it that only during Duterte's time as president that the PNP have focused so heavily on the drug problem? What were they doing before 2016??
It's not Duterte who is fighting the war on drugs. He never arrested anyone or busted a lab or engaged in a shootout or done any of the leg work required in that war. He merely told the PNP what to do and they did it. Are we to suppose that unless they are specifically told to do something the PNP will sit back and twiddle their thumbs? That seems to be the case.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1561488/fwd-duterte-hopes-his-successor-will-continue-war-on-drugs |
President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday expressed hope that his successor would continue his controversial war against illegal drugs, saying he is worried that the drug problem would make a resurgence.
“Itong drugs, I hope that whoever would sit as President, would continue this — if not the ferocity that I did, and I accept it, maski man lang ‘yung a little lower than my standard,” he said in a taped public address aired on Tuesday morning.
(I hope that whoever sits as President would continue the initiative — if not the ferocity that I did, maybe just a little lower than my standard.)
(Because it will destroy our country. I am very worried about the resurgence of the drug problem.)
He said the continuation of the campaign against illegal drugs would protect the next generation because “they will have a serious problem in their hands” if the drug problem is not mitigated.
(If the drug problem is so serious now, if you don’t meet it with as much intensity, you will lose.)
Is there really a Presidential candidate who is pro-drugs? Brain-dead morons would say Leni but I digress. The fact is this headline should read "Duterte hopes the PNP will continue the war on drugs" because it is the PNP along with the PDEA who is tasked with implementing and enforcing those laws.
This is not to say there was no enforcement of the drug laws before Duterte. There certainly were big busts under the Aquino administration. But there was no drug war as it exists under Duterte. Why is that? Perhaps the PNP simply did not care to really squash the problem especially since there are many drug dealers and users within their ranks.
The fact of criminality within the PNP is another issue. The latest number has the number of dismissed cops since 2016 at over 5,000.
 |
| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/01/19/2154963/pnp-over-5000-cops-dismissed-service-under-internal-cleansing |
Over 5,000 errant cops have been sacked after motu proprio investigations on alleged abuses and illicit activities as part of the Philippine National Police's regular audit of line units, it said in its latest update on its internal cleansing program.
In a statement sent to reporters Tuesday, Police Gen. Dionardo Carlos, PNP chief disclosed that of 37,124 administrative cases being handled by the Internal Affairs Service, 35,297 have been tagged as closed from July 2016 to Jan. 12, 2022.
“It is with deep sadness to know that the PNP is stained with erring cops. These undesirable members of the organization must face the consequences of their actions,” Carlos said.
“Public service means embracing scrutiny [but] we will let the numbers speak for themselves," he also said.
This, while the PNP added that "more than 20,000 personnel" have been meted with penalties on the gravity of the offense committed, mostly faced suspension while "some 5,000 police officers" were slapped with dismissal from service, from July 2016 to December 2021.
The PNP's public information office did not respond to requests for a breakdown of the exact figures. As of August 2021, 5,151 officers were dismissed from service while 18,664 cops were also penalized for various offenses.
I suppose they use July 2016 as a marker to show that Duterte has been hard on crime especially within the ranks of the PNP. But really Duterte has nothing to do with it. Once again the onus falls on the PNP to cleanse its ranks but even to this day they are filled with good-for-nothing-lollygaggers, criminals, and idiots. I document this every week in my Retards in the Government series. When Duterte leaves office are we to believe that criminality within the ranks of the PNP will increase?
The fact is too much blame or praise is given to the President when he is merely a figurehead. He does not make laws or actually enforce them. His underlings do that. Rather than heap praise or blame on Duterte for the war on drugs what we should be asking is what is the problem with the PNP, PDEA, and NBI? Why have they let the drug problem get out of control? Why did they not tackle this issue with gusto long before Duterte? Why do they need to be reminded to enforce the drug laws when that is part of their job? Will they once again go slack when Duterte leaves office?
Duterte's legacy is a complex thing to navigate. A lot has happened in six years and we still need the distance of time to see the bigger picture. But in the case of the drug war Duterte's legacy can be distilled more easily. Duterte's legacy is that he has exposed the shamefulness of the PNP, PDEA, and NBI in their lax stance about enforcing the drug laws.
No comments:
Post a Comment