Admitting he has gained no headway in his war against illegal drugs, President Rodrigo Duterte challenged his outspoken critic and leader of the political opposition, Vice President Leni Robredo, to take over and prove she can solve the problem on her own mettle.
He appointed her as co-chairman of the Inter-agency Committee on Anti-illegal Drugs.
The challenge may have been just a bluff or a double-edged political gambit, but it has gained a life of its own because she called the bluff and accepted the startling and incredulous invitation.
Despite the disparaging and condescending comments of some high administration officials and the misgivings and apprehensions of some of her own people, the vice president might just be the catalyst in finding an effective and lasting solution to the most serious crisis confronting the nation today.
Her initial moves are in the right direction. She asked to be updated on the extent and magnitude of the problem. She wants to know who are the bringing in the merchandise. She is touching base with agencies directly involved in anti-drug operations in other countries to gain from their experience and cooperation. She is eager to know who the influential officials conniving with the drug syndicates the continued smuggling of trillions worth of crystal meth, cocaine and heroine are. The identities of the officials and agents of the judicial and law enforcement agencies who have succumbed to the blandishments of the drug syndicates should be of interest to the vice president.
Yet all these information and the entire parameters of the problem have long been available. These were not lost to President Duterte. But why did he fail to wipe out the drug menace which he promised to accomplish within his first year in office?
The war on drugs failed because the enemy is unidentified and underestimated. The war was fought on the wrong battlegrounds, against the wrong enemies, and with the wrong weapons.
The enemies are not ordinary traders of a forbidden merchandise. They are merchants of death, merciless killers with no pangs of conscience. The leaders of the syndicates are powerful and untouchable because they are filthy rich and can buy anybody. They live luxurious lifestyles and conduct their business from within the penitentiary.
The war is being fought in the courts, in the offices of customs, immigration and law enforcement agencies whose efforts are often uncoordinated and at times at cross-purposes. Some of their agents are compromised and are made to serve as informers, assets and saboteurs.
The war has been hitting the wrong targets. Most of the over 30,000 reported casualties are poor people who took to drugs to forget their problems. Those who were arrested on trumped-up charges or with planted evidence are victims of gross injustice. Some were gunned down for allegedly resisting arrest or for attempting to shoot it out with the arresting officers. The drug lords and dealers are hardly visited since their emissaries have earlier called the law agents bearing gifts. How can you arrest the influential officials who gave the orders to release billions worth of shabu since the order was verbal and nobody was around?
The war on drugs is not a conventional armed confrontation. It has no territorial parameters or clearly-defined rules of engagement.
The war should be fought in the minds, the hearts and souls of the people. The war has deep psychological dimensions which will require cunning and scholarship to approach.
What is needed is for the government to wage an all-out, sustained, and comprehensive information campaign.
The people should know the exact nature, effects, and magnitude of the forbidden drug substances. Heroine, cocaine, and shabu contain a chemical called dopamine which, when taken in, triggers intense pleasure, making one feel euphoric, ecstatic and foolishly joyful.
Once one becomes addicted to the drug, his brain is gradually and adversely affected. His sense of judgment, decision making, memory and ability to learn are impaired. The drugs tinker with one’s nervous system. which affects how he feels, thinks, and behaves. These chemicals act as depressants, hallucinogens, or stimulants. They distort your sense of reality, or cause pain, over-anxiety, brain damage or death. It is when the drug dependent is deprived of his usual dose of dopamine that he loses his mind and becomes dangerous and violent. Why, despite the horrible consequences, millions become dependent on drugs?
It’s because they have not been made to understand that taking the drug is tantamount to committing suicide.
The people should be made aware of the terrifying consequences of acquiring the habit. Every family should be made to understand that anytime or any moment a member of the family gets initiated into taking the destructive and deadly substance, the entire family is in serious jeopardy. Many families have been constantly in turmoil and disarray when one member becomes drug-crazy.
The drug problem is primarily a concern of every family.
The inter-agency committee should invite the leaders of the advertising, public relations and media industries to design, frame, draw and spearhead the information campaign. They have the brightest and most gifted writers and graphic artists who can come out with the most profound and convincing messages on why people should unite and collectively confront the drug problem. If all media networks collectively, simultaneously and relentlessly undertake the information campaign, the impact will be tremendous and immeasurable. This is where social media will be most useful.
The posters, banners, pamphlets, and printed messages should be posted and displayed in all public and private establishments and showrooms. The President should issue an executive order calling on all the citizens to make their barangays drug free.
A shame campaign should also be initiated to ostracize, marginalize and publicly disgrace families or individuals suspected of being hooked on drugs or involved in its distribution.
Stiffer penalties and harsher prison treatment should be imposed on drug pushers and drug lords.
Leaders of the business community should be called upon to raise funds for the construction of more modern and adequate rehabilitation centers for drug addicts.
Drug addiction is not a physical ailment but a mental and emotional affliction. The people should be convinced that what are being sold to them are not food supplements or appetizers but poisonous chemicals which will eventually cause their death.
It is in the minds of the people where the war against illegal drugs can be won.
Ernesto G. Banawis is former general manager of the Philippine News Agency and a veteran advertising and pubic relations practitioner.