OFFBEAT MAIL

What a sad news to read that newly elected Philippines' President Rody Duterte was quoted by The Washington Post to have ordered the killing of "drug addicts", a departure from his earlier statements which ordered civilians and the police to only "kill drug lords and pushers" if they resist arrest or they fight back. President Rody Duterte hands over saber to the newly installed AFP Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Ricardo Visaya. Outgoing Chief of Staff Gen. Glorioso Miranda looks on. Photo: M. Pascua, PCOO, PNA In fact, President Duterte even urged members of the military to help the law enforcers contain the spread of illegal drugs and arrest those drug dealers who are destroying the future of the young generation and the Philippine society in general. Duterte made this call during a turnover rites at the headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. In the Martial Law years, the late President Ferdinand Marcos had appr...

If we read in the newspapers why some drug-related cases are dismissed, blame them on the lapses of law enforcers who made the arrests and filed the necessary crimnal cases against the suspects. Seized illegal drugs Often times, we ask ourselves why? What really happened? The peddling of illegal drugs in the markets is a crime that needs to be stopped before it could inflict serious damages to many young people. But have our law enforcers succeeded in eradicating this society's malady? The answer is a big "No." Why? Actually, there are a lot of reasons. In apprehending criminals involved in the peddling and distribution of drugs, there are established laws and legal procedures to follow. Our law enforcers may be able to succeed in arresting drug peddlers on the streets, but there are technicalities that need to be observed from the apprehension up to the filing of criminal cases against the suspects in the proper courts.  Ex-PDEA Chief D...