Hyperbole

It’s just hyperbole, President Duterte said in explaining his promise to kill local government executives and other officials involved in drugs.

He may be telling the truth. Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. of Albuera town in Leyte, after all, is still alive after turning himself in last week and naming his son Kerwin, still at large, as a drug dealer.

As of yesterday afternoon, Mayor Mamaulan Abinal Mulok of Maguing, Lanao del Sur and former mayor Mohammad Ali Abu Abinal also remained alive after presenting themselves to Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa at Camp Crame last Friday.

Duterte supporter Peter Lim, despite confirmation by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency that he is the same man in the PDEA “order of battle,” also remains alive and well after he was threatened with death by the President himself.

On the other hand, six of Espinosa’s henchmen were killed in a police raid on his home after he turned himself in and enjoyed a night’s stay at the official residence of the PNP chief.

So if you’re Kerwin or any of the 159 mostly incumbent mayors, vice mayors, judges, congressmen, cops and military officers tagged as drug personalities by President Rody at a pre-dawn press conference yesterday, you’d give yourself a 50-50 chance of escaping the “shoot-to-kill” order he has issued for public officials involved in drugs.

With hundreds of drug suspects killed by police and vigilantes since July 1, the Duterte administration has shown clearly that when the President issues a threat to kill, it tends not to be mere hyperbole.

This proof of readiness to kill has to be the only reason for the unusual speed of those tagged as drug personalities in presenting themselves to authorities. For almost all of them, it’s their first time to face the national media, and unfortunately for them, it is under shameful circumstances.

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While President Rody has said guilt has yet to be established and each one on his shame list will get due process, the general perception is that for him to publicly name the “narco-officials,” he must have the evidence against them and everyone is guilty.

I must confess that I am one of the many Filipinos amazed by the pervasiveness of the drug problem in our country – not just the extent of drug abuse, but the involvement of so many people in government. I guess drug trafficking is an even more lucrative enterprise than jueteng and other forms of illegal gambling.

As a local government official and prosecutor for many years, Rodrigo Duterte must have seen the extent of the problem, and now he is in a position to deal with it. He clearly believes his ultimate objective justifies the brutal means, especially because he had promised during the election campaign a timetable of three to six months to make a dent against criminality.

It has probably helped that the President does not feel indebted to local executives or lawmakers. He has often pointed out that only one provincial governor (Imee Marcos of Ilocos Norte) and two mayors supported his presidential bid. At his first State of the Nation Address, he reminded all the balimbings or turncoats in the “super majority” who were applauding him that almost all of them did not support his candidacy.

After showing that his campaign promise to kill, kill, kill was no mere hyperbole, the President now has a unique weapon for imposing discipline even among elected officials. He must use this weapon wisely.

The survival instinct is basic and among the most powerful. And Dirty Rody is also Crazy Rody; no one really knows what he’ll do next.

He’s so unlike all his predecessors, seemingly without a thought to legacy or survival (in life or politically, although crushing the opposition in Congress indicates otherwise). He seems to be an agnostic so he doesn’t even worry about making peace with his maker.

President Rody has happily stressed that being nearly 80 once his term is over, he can no longer go to prison. This isn’t entirely accurate; there is no age limit for imprisonment for heinous offenses, and mass murder is heinous enough, although elderly convicts have greater chances of pardon or court-ordered release on humanitarian grounds in our country.

Speaking of humanity, this early there is talk that certain quarters may ask the United Nations to take a look at a possible case of class genocide in the Philippines, circa 2016, with state forces zeroing in on impoverished drug suspects. There is no age limit for UN-imposed punishment for crimes against humanity.

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At least this war appears to be entering the next level, leaving the adik-adik or petty drug suspects and moving up to the major operators, including the public officials corrupted by drug money.

Perhaps the next targets will be the high-end nightclubs in Metro Manila where Ecstasy and other party drugs are distributed like candy to wealthy patrons. Two of the most notorious are in the turf of one of the President’s known supporters, but he has vowed not to spare his allies. These clubs can only operate with the protection of persons in authority.

President Rody has made his point: he is ready to kill. He must ensure that his imprimatur is not wielded with impunity by his shock troops.

If he wants any positive impact of this vicious war on criminality to be sustained beyond six months and after his six years in power, he must complement it with safeguards against abuse together with institutional reforms to strengthen every pillar of the criminal justice system.

For this, he needs the cooperation of the two other branches of government, which are normally beyond a president’s control. For a long time, elected local officials have also behaved like independent republics.

At this point, dizzyingly high public approval ratings give the President immense persuasive powers over politicians. But more than this, after just over a month in office, Rodrigo Duterte can ask any public official who refuses to cooperate with him a simple question: do you want to be part of the death statistics?

Who can say if it’s just hyperbole?

The President must use this fear of Dirty Rody to push necessary long-term reforms. We can’t just kill our way to a better, stronger republic.