Way to solve drug problem: Embrace redemption path

Rise Up for Life and for Rights is extremely concerned with President Duterte’s order to resume the Philippine National Police’s war on drugs. Not only because we doubt that the PNP is capable of ridding itself of corrupt officers with links to the illegal drug trade just yet; the resumption of this war will only mean the return of unabated, wanton killings to poor communities. The memories of the thousands of victims of the drug war call from beyond their graves, urging our collective conscience to reject this bloody path to violence and destruction.

We must, instead, embrace the path to redemption, where the lives of the poor are held sacred. Our collective efforts to alleviate poverty and provide our people with opportunities for “productive participation” in local economies can go much farther than the hell-bent executions of small-time drug users and peddlers.

The PNP chief himself has admitted that 40 percent of our cops are tainted with corruption, and President Duterte said that almost an equal percentage are involved in the illegal drug trade. Until this problem of criminal police involvement in drugs is addressed, any war on drugs will always be met with suspicion and its credibility questioned.

Yes, our country has a problem with illegal drugs. But the very people who are supposed to eradicate the drug menace are part of the problem, which dates back to past administrations.

They are detestable. In the guise of enforcing the law, they are actually bringing our nation to ruin. Whether they are with the police, military or whatever government agency, they must be made to bear the full force of the law. And whether they committed their crime in the past administrations or in the present, they should be held accountable and immediately removed from service, if only to show that the government is dead serious in tackling the drug problem.

Also, private individuals in the illegal drug trade must be dealt with accordingly. Manufacturers, suppliers and high-level, big-time traffickers of illegal substances, as well as their protectors should be identified, charged, incarcerated and convicted as soon as possible; these criminals belong in jail. And small-time drug offenders (users and pushers on the ground) should be provided expanded rehabilitation services, for which we should build more facilities. Most importantly, we must face the problem head on—by addressing the vulnerabilities that drive people into drug use and peddling.

We denounce the sale and use of illegal drugs. We denounce the past administrations for allowing narcopolitics to flourish and worsen in the Philippines, through inaction and misconduct, during their rule. We also denounce the flagrant abuse of state power, abetting extrajudicial killings, and the harassment of the poor and spread of terror in impoverished communities—under the cover of the so-called “war against drugs.”

We must rise up and dare to become a people whose very essence rejects the use of illegal substances, and cares and acts to promote the welfare of the most vulnerable members of our society, while demanding exemplary conduct from public servants and entities. This is the way we can rise from and above our drug problem.

#StopTheKillings #RiseUpForLife #RedemptionNotLiquidation

BISHOP REUEL N.O. MARIGZA, UCCP, Rise Up for Life and for Rights, rise.up.phils@gmail.com