Turning the tide on war against drugs

President Rodrigo Duterte's campaign promise to eradicate the menace of illegal drugs in the country from three to six months may soon be realized at the rate the police are cracking the whip on drug lords and pushers. As of the latest count, there are already 312 dead, 3,228 arrested, 120,209 who surrendered and 63,972 houses raided. The government is turning the tide on its bloody war against drugs.

"This will be a fight to the death," said PNP chief Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa who declared total war on drugs. He also warned police officers who are involved in drugs not to push their luck too much or else suffer the same fate as the drug lords.

The latest to fall in the hands of the law was the suspected big-time drug lord named Meco Tan who was killed in a police shootout in Valenzuela City. The police described Tan as a big-time drug personality involved in a clandestine drug laboratory with one Jackson Dy sometime in 2003 in which 600 kilograms of shabu were confiscated in Naic, Cavite.

Earlier, suspected drug lord "Jaguar" Diaz was killed in a shootout with the police in Las Piñas. Diaz was believed to be a big-time drug lord operating in Central Visayas based in Barangay Duljo-Fatima in Cebu City. Following Diaz's death, another suspected drug lord "Barok" Alvaro surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation in Bohol. Alvaro is now languishing in a Cebu jail and singing like a canary to pinpoint other lower-level drug lords in the region.

Recently, the new police chief visited the maximum cell in Bilibid and warned the convicted drug lords Herbert Colangco and Peter Co to put a stop to their illegal drug trade inside prison walls or else. It is widely believed that Bilibid is the source of illegal drugs peddled in other jails throughout the country. The jail guards were replaced by elements of the PNP's Special Action Force. 

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency  is the lead anti-drug law enforcement agency responsible for preventing, investigating and combating any dangerous drugs, controlled precursors and essential chemicals within the Philippines. The agency is tasked with the enforcement of the penal and regulatory provisions of Republic Act No. 9165 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The most commonly used drug in the Philippines is the methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu. It is a powerful stimulant drug that acts on the central nervous system (brain) increasing heart rate and blood pressure. It increases brain activity, produce feelings of well-being, increased competence and alertness. Higher doses of the drug cause tremor sweating, heart palpitation and anxiety. Exhaustion and depression follow when the effects of shabu wear off. Serious mental illness including paranoia, delusion, hallucination and violent behavior may occur after prolonged use.

The Duterte government has turned the tide on the war against the scourge of society and source of all crimes - illegal drugs.

Rene F. Antiga, Banilad, Mandaue City