Drug deaths: the real question

We have 4 million potential killers, rapists, thieves because they are afflicted with drugs,” said presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo.

It is obviously post-truth, but there are probably people who swallowed it.

What are the facts? Assuming it is true that there are 4 million addicts, how many of them have committed heinous crimes? Maybe 1,000, 2,000, or 3,000 in six months? (If so, then the media have not been doing their job.) Or more likely 10, 20, or 30 heinous crimes?

The real question is: How did the 4,000-plus who have been killed deserve to die? And the many more who will be killed soon, do they deserve death?

ATIS ALTAMIRANO, [email protected]