Duterte's Farce Drug Wars

The banner story of the Philippine Daily Inquirer today (17 July 2016) is about the bizarre encounter between Philippiine President Rodrigo Duterte and alleged drug lord Peter Lim in Davao City. According to the article, Lim surrendered to the police and requested for a meeting with the President, who had accused him of being a Triad member and big time drug personality. In their freakish interaction, Duterte told Lim to get his lawyer and gather evidence to clear himself, or he will be executed. He did boast on one occasion to have Lim killed if he steps foot on Philippine soil. That did not happen, even though Davao is still part of the Philippines. And, the alleged big fish was allowed to go free after the meeting.

The entire affair was nothing but a farce. To the 16+ million goofballs who voted for the President, it was glorious entertainment. But for the rest, the showcase was, again, the glaring incompetence of the present administration. While the unclaimed bodies of hundreds of suspected small-time drug peddlers continue to pile-up in mortuaries across the country, the alleged bluechip dealer was granted permission to abscond by the highest authority. Why wasn't he placed under arrest at least? Didn't he surrender to the authorities to begin with? That was the opportunity to show the entire nation what this war on drugs and criminality is all about. But like in other instances, this administration has no aptitude, nor the balls to act decisively on big issues.

Clearly, this nut-brained government doesn't have the goods on Lim. Or, is Lim good to this government? Therefore, the moro-moro? When Duterte announced on national TV the list of suspected major drug barons, he didn't have a face to go with the name of Peter Lim, aka Jaguar. In the meeting, the accused was instructed to come up with proof of his innocence or face summary execution. In an ideal setting, it is the accuser who is burdened to present cause of guilt, and not the other way around. It takes only the best and the brightest minds to come up with solid cases to pin down crime bosses, and successfully prosecute them. Tragically, with the likes of Vitaliano Aguirre and Jose Calida on board, the Duterte government pitifully lacks the intellectual competence to get the job done properly. That is the reason why there is a fantastic rise in theatrical shootouts between police and suspected criminal elements. Dead suspects can't be dragged to court, can they? Ineptitude and incompetence trickles down rapidly from the top to the lowest ranks.