President Digong was quoted out of context when he said he would impose martial law if the drug problem became “very virulent.”
The key words are “if” and “very virulent.”
Webster defines virulent as “extremely dangerous and deadly and usually spreading very quickly.”
From being extremely dangerous and deadly to consumers or addicts, the narcotics trade has instead become very dangerous and deadly to drug pushers, dealers and drug lords since Mr. Duterte took over.
From spreading very quickly, the illegal drugs trade has been held in check because thousands of drug personalities—counting the druggies who committed crimes—have been eliminated.
The price of “shabu” or meth in the streets has become prohibitive to ordinary addicts; that is, if they can buy, because supply has become very scarce.
Mr. Duterte was using hyperbole or exaggeration for effect when he talked to reporters about the drug problem and martial law.
Many of those who fell in Digong’s war on drugs were robbers, thieves, rapists and guns-for-hire who committed crimes to support their addiction or because they were high on drugs.
The police knew those hoodlums and disposed of them in a “shootout.”
The vigilantes were also policemen who cut corners but didn’t want to be identified.
In a country like the Philippines where the judicial system is utterly inefficient, the unorthodox method of dealing with criminals is the best and only way.
The drug problem will not be solved if governors, mayors, barangay chairs and the police are in cahoots with drug lords or are themselves drug lords or drug dealers.
That’s why Digong recently told mayors in Malacañang he would have them assassinated if they continued to tolerate the drug trade in their areas.
This time he was not exaggerating.
Drug trafficking would not have reached crisis proportions without local officials and the police turning a blind eye to the problem.