THERE are two priorities of the Duterte administration that have been put in the backburner in the aftermath of the Marawi siege.
One is the need for rehabilitation centers nationwide. There are reports that there are some 4 million drug addicts. More than 100,000 of them having surrendered to authorities and enduring sub-human conditions in cramped jails.
The other one is the need to decongest city and municipal jails. The Commission on Audit reports that Philippine jails are 511 percent congested.
When President Duterte launched his brutal war against illegal drugs, I said that terminating the last drug lord would only be half of the problem.
The other half is rehabilitation.
Take it from me. In the 1970s and 80s, I was vice president of former priest Bob Garon’s DARE Foundation. I know very well that so long as the addicts are not rehabilitated properly, they will return to their old habits.
In fact, our batting average in drug rehabilitation was only 75 percent with so-called “graduates” of DARE Foundation returning to their old habits.
Either their families did not care about them, or their problems continued to haunt them.
If rehabilitation is not adequate, the problem will continue. In the process, there will be more killings and violations of human rights. It is simply a matter of supply and demand.
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The other program put in the backburner is the congestion in jails. Inmates live under sub-human conditions. I cannot imagine how they can sleep and eat. I have seen photos showing them taking turns sleeping on concrete floors or the stairs.
And with a daily ration of P50, I wonder what kind of food is given them.
I am sure that Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II is aware of this fact, but why has he not done anything about it? Aguirre seems to be more concerned with prosecuting members of the political opposition, accusing them of treason or acts of destabilization.
We have seen how the illegal drug trade proliferated during the Aquino administration in New Bilibid Prison that led to the detention of Senator Leila de Lima. But do you think that Aguirre is doing anything about it?
Take the case of the NBP which was built to accommodate only 2,500 inmates. But, it is now holding some 22,000 to 24,000 thousand prisoners. Some affluent and influential inmates have built their own “kubol” where they continue with their illegal drug trade.
Despite the fact that there had been executive orders to relocate the NBP, the administration seems deaf and dumb about it.
Three private consortiums have already pre-qualified in building a P50-billion new national penitentiary in Laur, Nueva Ecija and the final bidding has been scheduled last April 27, 2017.
Santa Banana, what happened? The final bidding was reset—and I do not know when it will happen.
The Duterte administration doesn’t seem serious in solving the congestion of the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa.
May I remind the President that the siege of Marawi City, and possibility that the terrorists will proliferate are not only the problems at hand?
I realize that the declaration of martial law in Mindanao and the fight against terrorists are national security concerns. But just as important are drug rehab and decongestion of jails nationwide.
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Note that the Abu Sayyaf Group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and other private Moro fighters have already joined the Maute terrorists. If you think that these other groups are not giving them arms and ammunitions, you must be naive.
The bottom line here, and this is cultural and historical, is that a Moro will always side with another Moro when they are fighting Christians and the government.
If the military is also wondering how the Maute and the ASG are getting their firearms, the terrorists have been long planning the siege of Marawi as the hub of a new “caliphate” for the ISIS in this part of the world.
It is also a fact that many Muslims are interrelated in so many ways. That’s the reason it often gets difficult to go after the Abu Sayyaf terrorists because they can easily mix with a Muslim community and hide firearms.
If the AFP thinks that martial law would mean a campaign against loose firearms, it must be joking, since a Muslim would rather sleep with his gun than with his wife.
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The need for a national ID (Identification) card nationwide has again come up with so many terrorists already proliferating through Mindanao. And at times, they even become evacuees in other cities like Iligan, Cagayan de Oro, Cotabato, Zamboanga and even Davao, the President’s home city.
And here we go again, Santa Banana, the critics and oppositions of a National ID card say that they can be tools against privacy and to blackmail people. I think this is ridiculous, given that when one wants to get a passport, he’s mandated to state everything about himself.
I believe it’s now the best time for government to pursue the need for a National ID card which can be used also not only for government transactions but for business.
Other countries have this.
I don’t know why government has been hesitant to go through with its plan to have the National ID card. But, I believe that President Duterte can push through with it to protect citizens against terrorists.
Business transactions will also become easier.
Go for it, Mister President.