By Mortz C. Ortigoza
Naysayers who pronounced that the war on drugs launched by President Rodrigo Duterte is
destined to fail, just like in Thailand, had just been rebutted by a battle
scared senior non-commissioned police officer whose equivalent rank in the military is master sergeant.
In an interview with him, he told
me that not only peddling of illegal drugs in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan – known
as one of the top bailiwicks of narcotics peddlers in my province, had dropped
but three of its 34 villages have been declared as illegal drugs -free.
Urdaneta City Mayor Amadeo
"Bobom" G.E. Perez IV excitedly told me that these dope free villages
are Cabaruan, Otama, and Tipuso.
“You
go to Superintendent Marcelino Desamito
and asked him for more details on these three barangays,” Perez told me and his favorite
media man, who drops by at his office weekly, Harold Barcelona.
Instead of Desamito, who was busy
talking with some Muslim elders, we faced the police “sergeant major” who said index crimes like robbery, theft, and
others decreased by 40 percent because of the war on drugs.
“Iyong akyat bahay itong tag-ulan
marami. Parang seasonal iyan e ngayon wala na.
Wala kaming street crimes. Iyong snatching ng cellphones wala na. Tapos iyong riding-in –tandem na lupa, property
ang dahilan ng patayan wala na iyan".
He suspected that those hire guns
were those who were hooked on drugs. But because of the aggressive approached
by the government on drugs’ traders the menace of drugs have been disrupted.
“Saka sa gabi pag patrol ka
madali ang magsita kasi makikita mo hinde gaya noon na maraming pang tao sa 9
pm”.
He agreed to me that the
aggressive war launched by Duterte, who already saw countless dead suspected
dope peddlers and junkies, have been ubiquitous to bear fruits in all cities and towns in the
country.
So who now says the drug war is a
failure?
I was telling my radio listeners
that the scorched earth approached by the Duterte Administration is the most
effective weapon the pushers understand.
“Due process is not applicable in
this country. Many drug traders could bribe in their favor susceptible
policemen, prosecutors, judges and this happen since time immemorial,” I quipped.
***
***
URDANETA CITY – Three villages in this burgeoning city
have been cleared by the police as drug –free.
According to Mayor Amadeo Gregorio
"Bobom" E. Perez IV they were Barangays Cabaruan, Otama, and Tipuso.
The basis of the police in declaring these villages as
narcotics free were the absence of drug users, pushers, and financiers.
“Ito iyong mga barangays na kakaunti. Tinitingnan
naming mga barangay na surveillance nila Tipuso, eleven lang ang nandoon
(users) e,” Senior Police Officer-4 Roberto Reyes, the chief of the
non-commissioned police officer here, said.
He cited that these three villages are the smallest
barangays in this eastern Pangasinan city.
This city has been considered as one of the places in
Pangasinan if not in Region-1 that faces serious proliferation of dangerous
drugs in the 44 towns and four cities’ province.
“The eleven former drug users are no longer
hooked in narcotics. Beside, no pushers have attempted to sell illegal drugs
there,” the policeman cited one of the three villages why it was declared
as drug-free.
SPO4 Reyes cited that freeing these villages under the
menace of narcotics had been attained through hard work.
“Medyo mahirap siya, trabaho talaga tayo, kaya natin
gawin pag nagtrabaho talaga”.
(You can read my selected columns
at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You
can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)
Columnist Monsod insinuates narcotics war of Duterte is going to fail just like what happened to Thailand. But based on my experienced on the ground just like, say Dagupan City, almost all of the 31 villages in my city are already dangerous drug's free. Basing on my interviews with Chiefs of Police in towns and cities in the huge Pangasinan province crime rates on robberies and theft plummeted because offenders stop using drugs for the fear to be assassinated or they die in police encounters.
TumugonBurahinLet’s look at Thailand’s war on drugs
By: Solita Collas-Monsod - @inquirerdotnet
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 12:18 AM January 07, 2017
L
The first war on drugs was started in 2003 by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, at the behest of the King (the late Bhumibol Adulyadej). Thaksin said he would do it in three months, and then extended the time frame to eight months, but then was waging it all the way until he abruptly left office. Does that sound familiar?
BTW, the war was supported by 90 percent of the people, according to the results of a poll at the beginning of the war. Sound familiar?
By most estimates, in the first three months of the campaign 2,800 people were killed, “over half” of whom “had no links to the drug trade.” Sound familiar?
The authorities claimed that most of the killings were in self-defense. Sound familiar?
The violence was blamed on a government “shoot to kill” policy based on lists drawn up by the Thai equivalent of our barangay captains, which, unfortunately and more often than not, contained the names of their political opponents. This may not sound familiar, but did you ever wonder where the “Tokhang” operatives got their lists?
Two years later, in spite of the killings 74 percent of Thais polled still supported the campaign, but 68 percent did not think it would be successful (no one asked for a definition of success either).
Thaksin claimed success, but the King of Thailand did not agree, saying that the fight against drugs was far from over, and that Thaksin should investigate drug-related deaths for human rights violations.
In the United Nations General Assembly’s Special Session on the World Drug Problem last year, a senior member of the current Thai junta expressed his hopelessness. That means the Thai war on drugs has continued up to this day.
The UN office on Drugs and Crime Data has shown that the number of meth labs in Thailand has increased from 2 (2008-2010) to 193 (2011-2012).
Back to the Philippines. Even if we achieve “success” (rather doubtful), there will still be negative long-term impacts: the return, or at least the reinforcement, of the culture of impunity, particularly in the police force, and, relatedly, the isolation of the police and military from the people, with the latter’s growing suspicion and resentment of the former.
Is it worth it?