The current administration of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte inherited a badly corrupted infrastructure and changing that is a significant factor in reducing the high levels of criminality. Unfortunately because they have no choice, the criminals who are in the system will be an on-going problem until they are rooted out and removed. That will not happen while everyone is so busy focusing on complaining about the methods being used instead of providing support to expose the criminals. When the Police and other groups involved commence activities it would be more effective if the witnesses to these actions took notice of what the police do as opposed to what the alleged criminals do.
When they know they are being recorded, watched and reported on, a number of things will begin to happen. First a data base will begin to be developed and the criminals amongst the police will either desist in their illicit actions or be exposed. The people simply have to be more vigilant. It is this lack of vigilance that has led to the problems now faced and is built on a simple human frailty that has been encouraged and fueled by all administrations here since Marcos and that is making people so timid they are frightened to get involved. They have been intimidated by all and sundry and the Church has become a major player in this by staying silent whenever they see a crime being committed. The bottom line is the problem is one born of the people. And the solution is also a people one. Never forget, all it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.
The other aspect is attaining freedom and retaining it is not free, it comes with responsibility and that means taking action when you see injustice. If you see a crime occurring and take no action to intervene, you become a party to the crime. Sometimes all you have to do is take pictures, make a phone call, or write down a few descriptions of those involved along with the license plate of the vehicle(s) being used. I do not decry the existing actions of the Police in any way, as they are attempting to clean up 30 years of criminality. You will not do that overnight, nor will you do it by complaining. You need to be proactive and all I ask is that the current administration becomes more aggressive in helping and supporting those who would help them.
I know the new administration has created a few phone numbers, but I think it could do a lot more. Maybe some advertising and guidance on what it would find useful in helping to crack down, and making this a catch phrase for everyone so it becomes so well known that evil in society come to see that they can no longer use the fear and intimidation of the past to avoid being exposed. [1]
And in closing, if you want to know the real stories about the Philippine war on illegal drugs, don’t read the New York Times, Rappler, Time, Inquirer, ABS-CBN and other professional or profit oriented media. For the real stories, ask your local taxi driver and then check the other independent individual story tellers within Social Media, just like me. And keep in mind, most Filipinos on Facebook or otherwise, don’t know how the poorer Filipinos live among the drug users and pushers. Just try it sometime. Talk sincerely to someone much poorer than you. Someone who’s seen the effects of drug addiction on their lives. [2]
[1] By: Trevor Bailey
[2] By: Iggy Agbayani
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