So what if convicted drug lord Tony Co was killed and four others—including Jaybee Sebastian, Sen. Leila de Lima’s erstwhile fair-haired boy—were wounded in a riot at New Bilibid Prison?
Who cares whether those lowlifes disappear from the face of the earth or get maimed fighting one another?
So what if the government was behind the deadly prison riot?
Aren’t we happy the Duterte administration, unlike the previous ones, is doing something to uproot the evil caused by narcotics in our society?
The illicit drug trade flourished in the administrations of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and B. S. Aquino.
The drug problem has taken root in our country and the situation is desperate.
A desperate situation calls for a desperate solution.
* * *
If you realize the enormity of the drug problem like President Digong does, you will sympathize with him and cheer him on.
During a meeting with him in the early hours of Sept. 24 (doesn’t the guy ever sleep?), the President told this columnist the drug problem was nearing irreversible situation and that he had to take drastic measures to stem the tide.
“Every sector of society is tainted with drugs,” the President said.
Politicians, judges, prosecutors, policemen, show biz personalities, the rich and middle class, the poor are either using drugs or protecting drug peddlers, according to Mano Digong.
He said he would not stop until the drug problem is licked.
* * *
President Digong has found an avid supporter in one of the country’s business titans, Ramon S. Ang.
Ang, president and CEO of San Miguel Corp. (SMC), says the giant conglomerate is investing heavily in manufacturing and infrastructure because the country will boom under the Duterte administration.
“Mark my word: This country will fly. This country will be a better place for our children and grandchildren because the drug problem will be eliminated under Duterte,” Ang said.
Because of the expected economic surge, SMC is building more airports, sea ports and railways, and acquiring trains.
Ang said Petron, the leading fuel company, will be expanded; petrochemical and power plants and cement factories will be built by the business conglomerate SMC.
If the President solves the problems of drug, criminality and corruption, he will become the best president the Philippines has ever had, Ang said.
Coming from a business genius, Ang’s words about Duterte will surely resonate with other business giants.
* * *
President Digong’s plan to revive the Philippine Constabulary (PC) brings back good memories to millions of Filipinos, especially the senior citizens or those approaching their senior years.
The PC, a military organization with police powers, was one of the major services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The Army, Navy and Air Force were its brother organizations.
The PC was the forerunner of the Philippine National Police.
Because of its military character, the PC was much more disciplined and respected than the PNP, which is a civilian organization.
The civilian character of the PNP has made its members ill-disciplined and lazy.
If a PNP member commits a wrongdoing, punishment is long in coming as he is protected by Civil Service rules; most of the time he is not punished at all.
On the other hand, a PC soldier who abused a civilian was immediately placed in a stockade while he underwent trial.
* * *
The PC, which had a long and colorful history, was founded during the American regime as an insular police.
Its early officers graduated from the Philippine Constabulary Academy, which preceded the Philippine Military Academy.
The PC was abolished during the Cory administration and replaced by the PNP because the new dispensation at the time launched a personal vendetta against the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
It was as if by abolishing the PC, President Cory was taking vengeance on Marcos.