Killing her softly?

When Philippine National Police officials report with a hint of pride that some 1,800 people have been killed in the drug war within less than two months, and some senators say the figure is still small considering the number of drug “personalities” in the country, this nation has lost its soul.

President Duterte has amply shown that the drug menace is real and alarming in its scale. Whether the pervasiveness of the problem deserves those 1,800 deaths – more than half of which, the PNP stressed, were perpetrated by vigilantes – is debatable. But the debate at this point is lopsided and heavily in favor of the executioners. Many Filipinos seem to go along with Dirty Rody’s Machiavellian belief about the end justifying the means.

This public acquiescence reveals much about our nation and is among the most disturbing aspects of the drug war. I’ve written that this acquiescence is fueled by frustration over the slow pace of justice and the weakness of the criminal justice system. Yesterday Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, in her once-a-year meeting with the press, said efforts were being undertaken to speed up the wheels of justice, even as she lamented the impunity in killings. She meant killings of judges and journalists, not drug suspects.

The drug war has become unduly focused on President Rody’s dislike for Sen. Leila de Lima, who unfortunately for her is vulnerable because of her stint as head of the department with jurisdiction over the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

* * *

If you ask anti-narcotics agencies, they will all point to the NBP as the central command for the illegal drug trade. The same names of convicts who are supposed to be running the operations keep cropping up. The same former government official’s name also keeps cropping up as overseer of the operations. So President Rody can validly focus on putting a stop to these operations.

It’s also not the first time that De Lima’s former driver has been linked to questionable activities in the NBP and justice department when she was its head, although the President was the first to identify the driver in public and openly accuse him of involvement in a specific illegal activity.

What’s new in the “matrix” released yesterday is that Pangasinan has been identified as the source of the drugs, with governor-turned-congressman Amado Espino Jr., his provincial administrator and an incumbent mayor accused of involvement.

Those who have visited the lovely beaches of Pangasinan, particularly Alaminos – the area where the drugs are supposed to be brought in – may understand how easy it is to carry out such illegal activities, especially if local executives are in on the operations. De Lima’s ex-driver is from the province. Espino, who also faces charges in connection with black sand mining, has denied the drug links.

So has De Lima. She’s a lawyer and one tough cookie. She’s not going to allow herself to be “killed softly” as her tormentor has promised.

Dirty Rody’s serious accusations against De Lima are no joke, but he better make sure he has an airtight case against her in linking her to drug deals and corruption.

* * *

It’s not the first time that questions have been raised about how much De Lima knew about the activities of the NBP drug lords. She has always denied the ugly speculations. Unless one of those in the so-called drug matrix pins her down, the President’s accusation is likely to fall flat.

President Rody is just being himself, but he may also want to tone down his snide remarks about De Lima and her personal life. While what he described as her affair with her former driver could have a bearing on the alleged anomalies, the snide comments inject a personal bias that could adversely affect the ongoing probe of drug deals in the NBP.

Already, his battle against drug operations in the national penitentiary has been diminished by the timing of his attack on De Lima, which coincides with the probe on extrajudicial killings by the Senate panels which she and Panfilo Lacson head.

It’s said that President Rody became infuriated with De Lima not just because of the Senate probe but also over reports that she is part of efforts to encourage the United Nations to look into possible genocide being committed in the bloody drug war. This is also reportedly the reason for the President’s open disdain for the UN.

While the President entertains the nation with street slang or gayspeak for buggery (chuk-chak), De Lima can forge ahead with the probe into the continuing killing spree. This is as much a problem as the drug menace, and her concern is shared by others – still a minority at this point, but you know what they say about mighty oaks growing from little acorns.

Several senators attending the probe are clearly interested merely in preening for the cameras and hearing their own voices. They are just wasting our time. In the last session, my mother got fed up listening to the nonsense from several of the senators and switched to a Korean telenovela.

But I’ve actually heard some possibilities about useful laws that might result from the probe, such as better resources for fighting the drug menace, so the panels of De Lima and Lacson can legitimately claim that the inquiry is in aid of legislation.

Dirty Rody might yet succeed in destroying De Lima. But he also risks turning her into a rallying point for opposition against him. And regardless of her fate, De Lima might yet exact revenge, the sweetest of which is a UN indictment of the government for crimes against humanity.