OFFBEAT MAIL

Philippine President Rody Duterte has warned the Supreme Court that he would declare Martial Law if it gets in his way. President Duterte's tirade emanated from the recent wranglings that involved certain judges who were linked to the distribution of illegal drugs in the Philippines. The names of the judges surfaced when Duterte read a list in public, along with some local government officials, policemen, and judges were mentioned there. The fiesty president ordered those whose names appeared on the list to present themselves within 24 hours to the Director-General of the Philippine National Police in Camp Crame. But the President Duterte's announcement didn't bode well with SC Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, who argued that the erring judges are under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, and not by the Executive Branch of government. In short, Sereno wanted the erring judges to be investigated by the Supreme Court instead of the police. Prior to this, local...

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...

Ecstacy pills in the markets. Credit: bar.wikipedia.org Combined police operations have seized more illegal drugs in Metro Manila and the suburbs of Batangas province, where international couriers in cahoots with local Filipinos were apprehended and are now facing criminal charges for illegal drug peddling. This developed after the law enforcers received reliable tips from concerned individuals that led them to their posh condominium hideouts  in Makati City and a ranch in Lipa City, Batangas, owned by the Leviste family, recently. The anti-drug operations were conducted by the PNP, Philippine Drug Enforcement Authority (PDEA) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). According to Atty. Roque Merdegia, chief of the PNP's Anti-Illegal Drug Special Operations Task Force, they had been conducting surveillance operations concerning the movements of a drug dealer in Lipa City, believed to have tie ups with the Mexican-Sinaloa drug cartel, for a long time until they final...

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...

Forests serve as the reliable sources of timber and other wood-based products that could generate huge foreign exchange receipts when exported. But nowadays, the forests are also being explored and tapped for growing poppy plants. But the trade-offs are tremendous to the environment because clearing of the forests alone was observed to have exerted undue pressures to the ecological balance of the land. According to a case-study made by the Trade and Environment Database of the American University’s School for International Service, thousands of acres of forests were illegally logged and used instead to plant marijuana and opium, which sell for hundreds of millions of dollars in the United States. The TED is a collection of case studies focusing on environmental issues. Consequently, the land being used for this cash-crop have experienced soil erosion; and indigenous plants and animal species have been noted to be disappearing and the cultural tribe of the Tarhumara Indian tribe is thr...