A war that isn’t war

The Holy Week pause made me think some more of the sufferings and deaths in the “war on drugs” that has made the Philippines probably the world’s bloodiest, most ruthless and most frightening country that isn’t at war. And the more I thought of the man waging it, the more I was convinced of the following:

He hasn’t studied the drug problem to any appreciable depth. He has made it his principal focus, and yet he has never elaborated on it, never elucidated its extent or the damage he says it has caused. His statement that “drugs are destroying this country” appeals to the emotion, but where are the facts? My sense: That statement may be a little more than—or nothing but—post-truth.

The lone statistic he has given—“4 million addicts”—has never been substantiated and may be untrue. No validation has come from the Philippine National Police, the Department of the Interior and Local Government or the Department of Health. A valid number could be derived only by proper quantification, using verified full-country data. No such process has been reported, and maybe there hasn’t been one. If no quantification has been done, then where did the “4 million” figure come from? My guess: He made it up. It was one of the first of the false facts that have since
proliferated.

Given the above, what is the basis for the “war on drugs”? (How can it be a “war” when only one side is armed?) The destruction that we have seen—thousands of human lives obliterated and wasted—is the horrifying response to what ugly truth? Possible answer: No truth, just an impression in the mind of someone who isn’t in the habit of going in-depth about anything.

The darkest of horrors have come to us from a mere impression? Heaven have mercy!

For the sake of the victims and their families, I hope I’m wrong. It is very painful for anybody to have a loved one get murdered, but it would be absolutely unbearable to have a loved one get murdered for something of questionable
basis.

ATIS ALTAMIRANO,
[email protected]