More shock, awe in war on drugs, goes the headline of the Inquirer’s editorial on Tuesday.
“Would the much-admired [Oscar] Albayalde chart a different path [from that of Ronald dela Rosa]? … Perhaps it’s too early to tell, but the shock and awe of his early days in office do not serve to inspire much confidence. An EJK-weary nation desperately hopes that he will prove such fears wrong,” the editorial’s last paragraph read.
It was referring to the 14 drug suspects killed by the police in Bulacan province in one fell swoop after they reportedly resisted arrest. The killings happened shortly after Albayalde was sworn in as the new Philippine National Police chief.
With all due respect to my editors, I beg to disagree with the statement that the nation is “EJK-weary” and “desperately hoping” the new police chief will change tack in the war on drugs.
* * *
The people clamored for a new order, the reason they elected Rodrigo R. Duterte as president.
Mr. Duterte promised to eliminate the drug menace during the campaign period; he is doing so now.
The EJKs or extrajudicial killings, part of Digong’s attempt to change the country’s political and social landscapes, are a bitter pill to swallow.
But people willingly tolerate them because they know they will ultimately benefit.
Weeds should be uprooted for the good grass to thrive.
Change is always uncomfortable at the start.
Proof that the people ignore reports of EJKs is Digong’s very high ratings in surveys two years into his administration.
In short, the majority of Filipinos approve of Digong’s unorthodox method of dealing with crime and drugs.
* * *
Manay, my hick town in Davao Oriental, was not spared from the tentacles of drugs.
Many young men and women became addicted to “shabu” (crystal meth) as the town started falling on hard times in the 1990s.
Burglaries, stabbings and teenage rowdiness were rampant.
The death of two of the town’s notorious drug pushers made Manay a sleepy, peaceful town once again.
* * *
It was all right for the country to apologize to the Kuwaiti government after our diplomats in that country rescued two Filipino maids from their cruel employers.
That is diplomacy.
But those embassy guys who carried out the rescues should be rewarded instead of punished when they come home.
The Philippine ambassador to Kuwait, Renato Pedro Villa, now considered persona non grata by the host country, should be feted for that heroic act.
* * *
We should bring home all our domestic workers in Kuwait.
The latest incident was on top of the murder of Joanna Demafelis, a 29-year-old Filipino maid, whose body was found inside a refrigerator in a Kuwaiti household.
The rescue of Filipino maids that got our diplomats into trouble with Kuwaiti authorities was a reaction to the Demafelis incident.