Tweaked

Vice President Leni Robredo still doesn’t get it.

She babbled recklessly. The President pounced.

There is a term in chess aptly describing Robredo’s predicament: Zugzwang. It describes a situation on the chessboard where one player is compelled to move even if every possible option will weaken her position.

It began when Robredo, in an interview with Reuters, claimed the war on drugs has failed. She later denied having said that. The news organization stood by its story.

That was a disastrous statement. An overwhelming majority of Filipinos support the war on drugs. By every measure, the volume of crimes decreased – in large part due to the relentless crackdown on drug use. By every survey, Filipinos say they now feel safer in the streets.

The drug war is not black and white, success or failure. It is a protracted and complex process, bringing down both demand and supply of narcotics or at least averting our slide into a narco-state. It was simply wrong to declare this comprehensive, all-of-government effort a failure. Any reduction in demand or supply is a gain.

Abandoning the drug war is utterly wrong. Government will abdicate on its responsibility to enforce the law if the crackdown is stopped.

Robredo compounded her predicament by lying. She said all she wanted was to “tweak” the anti-drug effort. But even if we grant that, the people deserve an exposition about how this effort might be “tweaked.”

As a matter of course, all the agencies involved in the anti-drug effort are constantly reviewing strategy and tactics, learning from mistakes and applying remedies. All the professionals involved in the anti-drug effort will want to know what other solution Robredo might have discovered. It is entirely possible she has discovered the silver bullet that will save our society from descending into a drug-infested hell.

Robredo has developed a track record for saying things that make very little sense. She had become part of the white noise infecting the way we appreciate our policy options, repeating general oppositional themes without offering clear alternatives.

The only way to force Robredo to make an exposition on the alternatives she might propose is to offer her command of the war on drugs. She must now tell us how things might be better done, regardless of whether she accepts or declines.

Whether President Duterte is serious or not is of secondary importance. He is a man brilliant in his sarcasm. His message is that critics should not merely create white noise. Everybody benefits from the presentation of workable alternatives.

Robredo, of course, misses the President’s point and complains instead about receiving by text the invitation to hold a Cabinet portfolio and direct the drug war. 

National security

It was odd when this was first announced. The Armed Forces of the Philippines said it was signing a memorandum of agreement with Dito Telecommunity (formerly Mislatel) for telecommunications towers to be set up within military camps.

It turns out the proposal to do so still required the approval of the Secretary of National Defense. It seemed, at least to one senator, that the military brass was preempting the DND. The senator asked Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to ask a third party to conduct a “cyber-security risk assessment.”

Things might not have been as sensitive if a different telco was involved.

Dito Telecommunity, however, is a partnership between China Telecom and Chelsea Logistics Corporation, a subsidiary of Udenna Corporation owned by Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy. This is the designated third major telco player supported by this administration’s policy of encouraging more competition in the sector.

The proposed arrangement between Dito and the AFP will presumably benefit the military with some revenue from leasing out unused land. It will also make things easier for Dito to rollout its system within the short period prescribed in their contract.

All the telcos have problems finding places to erect their communications towers. Local governments and even homeowners associations disdain granting permits for the towers. While everybody wants strong telecoms signals, no one wants towers in their backyards.

Facilitating access to military camps for a company owned by Dennis Uy strikes some, especially among opposition politicians, as some form of political accommodation. That might be the less important concern.

In an age where surveillance is conducted via satellite, it should not matter much if telecommunications towers are located within military camps. But telecoms firms involving Chinese firms touch on specific sensitivities because China’s National Intelligence Law requires that country’s companies to “support, assist and cooperate with state intelligence work.” This is the concern that created problems for technology behemoth Huawei in some parts of the world.

The permeable boundary between private companies and state policy in China is one of the reasons delaying the proposed surveillance system involving 12,000 CCTV cameras provided by Huawei. The project is being proposed by China International Telecommunications Corporation, also an affiliate of state-owned China Telecom. One other factor disturbing Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano is a provision in the contract that says all disputes will be settled in Hong Kong.

Several major communications projects involve large Chinese firms. Our territorial disputes with our giant neighbor make them hot-button issues that politicians could play on. 

The deal between the AFP and Dito Telecommunity is understandably susceptible to political play, given the deep undercurrent of distrust among our citizens. The DND must be more than convincing if it lets this arrangement pass.

 Although the Chinese companies are in the country for entirely commercial motives, Beijing’s intelligence law puts a layer of security concerns over their activities.