We understand the anguish of the parents of the accused in the famed “Vizconde Massacre” in the wake of the Court of Appeal's affirmation of the lower court's reclusion perpetua sentence to their boys. The Supreme Court would be their last chance to prove that their sons are innocent.
It is widely believed such incredibly inhuman crime committed many, many years ago is drug-related. Even after the conviction of the accused, more and more drug-related crimes are reported every year.
It is reported that eighty percent of crimes committed are drug-related. The Philippines , producing nearly $1.5 billion worth of marijuana every year, is the second biggest source of the banned narcotic next to Mexico .
Trendier drugs like ecstasy (methylene dioxymethampetha-mine) and shabu (amphetamine hydrochloride) are now sold over the counter or in tiyangge.
More and more Filipinos are hooked into drugs. The country has more or less two million drug users today, almost half million of them are high school and college students, and 90% of them are male between the age of 15 to 29 years old.
The situation is very alarming. It is as alarming as twenty or ten years ago. It is always so alarming that nobody cares anymore about anyone sounding the alarm.
Our apathy and despair in the face of the illegal drug problem is precisely what drug lords and traders – the Merchants of Death – want. The game plan is perfect. The drug menace is beyond our human capabilities to solve. Let it
be. The tentacles of the drug syndicates encompass everybody, and it means everybody, including some churches who receive donations from drug lords. So, better keep quiet about it. Unless you want another dead body disturb the peaceful neighborhood.
The drug enforcement agency can do just enough. They could conduct raids, arrest some small fry, uproot a hundred hills of marijuana, bust a shabu laboratory, report them to the media, and we all feel good about it.
But the scourge of illegal drugs continues. After hibernating for a few days or months during which the selling price soars, this evil returns with a vengeance, so that more crimes are committed, more minds destroyed and more lives devastated.
It is about time we seriously heed the call of PSupt Edwin S. Minion, PDEA-12 Regional Director, for greater cooperation from the citizenry, parents, schools and all sectors in our common fight against the drug menace.
Beating illegal drugs is not a purely PDEA concern. With a vigilant citizenry and more cooperative parents, our battle against this evil will have greater chances of winning.
Regional Director Minion proposes a more concerted and consistent campaign against illegal drugs. It dismays the public when they see finger-pointing and infighting among personalities and agencies supposedly entrusted to fight the drug problem, or when we hear law enforcers themselves allegedly involved in the drug trade.
Local government units, invoking the general welfare clause enshrined in RA 7160, could maximize their resources towards increased awareness through drug education, campus rallies, counseling and rehabilitation.
Director Minion believes that strengthening the family is one of the greatest defenses against illegal drugs. It is society that makes drugs survive. Children find drugs a good substitute to important things that they do not find in a home, such as love and a sense of belonging.
Parents should spend time with their children, develop their self-esteem, and check on their barkadas . A child with a strong sense of self could easily resist destructive habits.
The PDEA Region 12 chief also proposes a personal lifestyle change. Leaders, parents, government officials and persons in authority should look at themselves and the kind of role models they are in society. Addiction is a lifestyle, a way of coping with the world and ourselves. A value system that finds alcohol and tobacco (“gateway drugs”) desirable lead children to easily experiment on drugs.
Citizens, rise up. Let us do our share in the war against drugs. Laban natin ito.
No comments:
Post a Comment