Futile ‘wars’

It is now getting clearer and more obvious that this administration is not winning the ongoing “wars” it has pursued against drugs, graft and corruption and other crimes. No less than Duterte himself has admitted this sad reality. Apparently something is wrong with the strategies used in carrying them out.

In fact, more and more people are now convinced that it would have been better if this administration has not openly and publicly announced these “wars” when it assumed power. It could have just quietly carried them out without so much funfare. Like any other wars, the chances of winning are greater if they are waged quietly. Too much publicity merely creates the impression that they are “fake” wars carried out only for propaganda purposes. And even if they are not really bogus, too much publicity is like telegraphing its punches to the enemies. Worst here is that most of the casualties are the poor and the helpless citizens caught in the crossfire that do not actually belong to any of the supposed warring sides.

Most noteworthy in this connection is the recent importation of shabu worth P10 billion, which is reminiscent of the previous importation of P6.8 billion worth of shabu that slipped past the Bureau of Customs (BOC). This latest discovery of the importation of a bigger amount of shabu by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) that was not detected by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) all the more convinced most Filipinos that the war against drugs is a sham. It is really hard to believe how such a big importation of prohibited drugs could have passed through the BOC without the intervention of big and influential people. This incident really shows that the present government is not winning the “war” against drugs or that such war is faked and merely for “show.”

Such importation of shabu slipping past the BOC also gives rise to the public impression that corruption remains unchecked and is even growing and proliferating under the present administration especially in the BOC. There could really be no plausible reason why such importation could pass through the BOC except that lots of “grease” money changed hands. In fact, in order to control the damage of the public image of this administration, Malacanang has come out with a statement that the report about said incident is pure speculation. Even PDEA is now denying that they discovered such big amount of drugs. They are even claiming that the same was non-existent.

There is therefore no longer any doubt that the present government is losing its much vaunted “war” against graft and corruption. Duterte himself admitted this sad reality. Just recently he publicly and openly said that he is “thinking of stepping down” because he is “already tired.” He also admitted that, “my chase of corruption seems to be endless. It has contaminated almost all government departments and offices.”

Of course, in his ongoing war against graft and corruption, Duterte has really fired many officials in many departments of the government, including the military. Yet there seems to be something wrong in the manner of firing these officials. First of all, his dismissal is done without due process of law. He just fires those officials by announcing that they are guilty of graft and corruption. The dismissed officials are not given the opportunity to defend themselves and clear their names because no charges have been filed and proven against them in Court. In fact, most, if not all of these officials who are fired, are even recycled by quietly appointing them to other positions in the government. Hence, people cannot help but conclude that this “war” against graft and corruption is just for show and not for real because Duterte is condemning and firing these officials “without trial.” Indeed his style is quite unfair to the officials fired because they are not given the opportunity to prove their innocence of the corrupt practices attributed to them that destroy their reputation for the rest of their life.

The futility of these ongoing “wars” is likewise very evident in the war against other crimes that are being committed with impunity. Not a single day passes without a report of the various killings, thefts, robberies, snatchings and other crimes. Despite the campaign against “tambays” in public places, crimes are still occurring almost everyday. Obviously this “war” against crime is failing and will continue to break down if the other “war” against poverty is ignored and/or neglected. As has already been shown, the best and most effective way to fight crime is to eliminate or solve the problem of poverty by ensuring the equitable distribution of wealth and resources of the country as well as by promoting a speedy and fair administration and dispensation of justice in our country.

And so it is quite clear that this administration is failing and continues to fail in its ongoing “wars” on several fronts. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of time to change and improve its strategy and manner of carrying out and winning these “wars.” But the main problem here is that Duterte himself seems adamant in changing his style and has even admitted that he has so far failed. In fact he even threatened to resign several times. So, people are hoping and praying that he will be true to his repeated “threats” of stepping down by peremptorily and unconditionally resigning as President of this country.

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