NOVEMBER 26 - That was a wasted opportunity, all right for a united approach to a complex scourge.

Drug
trafficking is a law enforcement problem that feeds on the complicated social problem of drug abuse. One
cannot be tackled separately from the other.

The administration’s tough approach on the criminal aspect of the crime eliminated several high-value targets
and a host of small-scale neighborhood pushers, but the violence has spawned its own problems. While surveys
consistently indicate high public support for fighting the drug menace, the polls also show high public
preference for sparing the lives of suspects.

The challenge is how to reconcile these preferences for an effective campaign to significantly reduce both
drug trafficking and abuse, apart from the other social ills engendered by drug money, such as corruption and
narco politics.

While the offer of Malacañang to put Vice President Leni Robredo in charge of the anti-drug campaign struck
many in the opposition as a ploy to humiliate her, her acceptance of the post also raised hopes that a holistic
approach to the drug problem could be crafted.

This whole of nation approach would have given as much attention to the social and public health aspects of
the problem as the law enforcement side. Having the leader of the political opposition in charge of a campaign
that she said needed to be “tweaked” might have brought in sectors such as religious groups to help address
the social issues that drive people, especially youths, to abuse prohibited drugs.

As long as the demand is there, drug dealers will find a way to grow or manufacture, transport, sell and
distribute their products to the consumers. Even in remote areas where there are no established distribution
networks for shabu, those who need substances that alter the mind and mood satisfy their cravings by using
mushrooms, vines and shrubs with psychedelic properties.

The world’s wealthiest economies and the harshest regimes have failed to completely eradicate the drug
menace. The best that can be done is to conduct a sustained campaign to catch the traffickers and punish them,
eliminate their sources and destroy their supply chains. This must be complemented with equally aggressive
efforts to reduce demand, through intervention programs. Punishment as provided by law is a deterrent to drug
abuse, although the long-standing admonition to jail the pusher but save the user remains valid.

The Vice President has said she’s just getting started, and would continue doing what she can to confront the
drug scourge. Malacañang has said the war on drugs remains on course. With both camps having the same
objectives, there’s no reason why their paths should diverge. This is everybody’s war.
NOVEMBER 25 - Following the killing of a judge in San Fernando, La Union on Nov. 5 for still
unknown reasons, the Supreme Court is proposing the creation of a special group patterned after the
US Marshals Service, whose members will be assigned exclusively to protect members of the
judiciary. A bill supporting the proposal has been filed at the House of Representatives.

Mario Anacleto Bañez was the second judge to be murdered this year, and the 31st since 1999. While
it is clear, however, that certain members of the judiciary can face serious threats to their personal
safety in line with their work, this proposal must be seen in the proper context.

Judges aren’t the only ones who face death threats and are actually assassinated in this country.
Similar threats are faced by lawmakers, local government executives, labor arbiters and other
officials, journalists, environmental advocates, left-leaning activists and even priests. There are
reports that several regional officials of the Bureau of Internal Revenue have been kidnapped for
ransom in the past months. In the conflict areas of Mindanao, teachers are targeted by Islamic
terrorists for hostage taking, rape and murder.

Why should members of the judiciary get special protection? It’s unfair enough that too many
members of the Philippine National Police are deployed as personal bodyguards of government
officials and even certain private VIPs who can very well afford to pay for their own security detail.

If bodyguards would speed up magistrates’ dispensation of justice, perhaps the proposal could become
palatable to taxpayers. But if this measure would be passed, what would stop members of Congress
from creating their own special protective force at taxpayers’ expense? Who decides which sector
deserves more protection than others?

There are currently 2,561 trial judges, 15 justices of the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court, 70 justices
of the Court of Appeals, nine in the Court of Tax Appeals and 15 members of the Supreme Court.
How many marshals will be deployed to protect them?

The proponent of the House bill was quoted as saying, in explaining his measure, that “right now,
every active judge is a sitting duck, with absolutely no protection whatsoever against potential
attacks.” But the same could be said of a majority of the population. The proposed funding for this
proposal is better spent in improving public safety measures in general. Every person in this country
deserves protection from lawless elements.
NOVEMBER 24 - In the age of space exploration and the internet, an estimated 4.5 percent of
Filipinos still lack sanitary toilets, according to a health survey. With a population of about 105
million, this means over 4.7 million Filipinos are still defecating in the open. The 2017 Philippine
National Demographic and Health Survey also indicated that 24 percent of Filipinos still use
unimproved sanitation facilities.

Health officials say that poor sanitation poses serious threats not only to public health and nutrition
but also to people’s education and productivity as well as to the environment. In certain areas, experts
point out that women who are forced to defecate in open areas outside their homes also face the risk
of sexual assault.

The problem is not unique to the Philippines; the United Nations estimates that there are 4.2 billion
people worldwide more than half of the global population without safely managed sanitation options.

On Nov. 19, to mark World Toilet Day, the Department of Health launched the Philippine Approach
to Sustainable Sanitation in an impoverished community in Baseco, Tondo. The city of Manila is
home to a large number of informal settlers whose shanties lack toilets. Under the program, the DOH
aims to achieve ZOD – zero open defecation status – by 2025.

The objective seems ambitious, considering that only 4,625 or 11 percent of the country’s 42,045
barangays are currently ZOD-certified. With this year’s World Toilet Day theme of “Toilets for All:
Leaving No One Behind,” however, the DOH is hoping that local government units can do their part
in the attainment of the ZOD objective.

Toilets and other sanitation facilities must complement the government’s immunization programs,
according to the DOH. Numerous diseases can be prevented merely by regular hand washing,
especially after defecation in a sanitary toilet. Vaccine-derived polio, which has emerged in the
Philippines, can be spread through poor sanitation. Unsanitary practices can also cause malnutrition
and stunting among children.

Health experts have stressed the benefits of sanitation facilities for a long time. Different sectors must
work together to attain the zero open defecation target by 2025.
NOVEMBER 22 - Few people are questioning the P4.48 million paid to the late National Artist Francisco
Mañosa for his design of an iconic cauldron for the 30th Southeast Asian Games. Whether the P13.4 million
for the 50-meter-high SEAG cauldron base plus P32 million for construction work are reasonable, however,
will have to be determined by the Commission on Audit – and possibly the Office of the Ombudsman and
the Sandiganbayan at some point.

Those behind the construction of the cauldron and the entire New Clark City Sports Complex, the principal
venue for the SEA Games, will also have to contend with the lament of certain members of the Philippine
athletic team, who questioned the government’s priorities.

Philippine athletes have long lamented the limited funding for their training, which must be intensive and
prolonged and therefore costly. The training must be supported by sufficient resources for developing world-
class athletes, including proper nutrition, apparel and special equipment for each particular sport. The
private sector has chipped in heavily in sports development, but the government must take the lead in
identifying, training and deploying athletes who can bring top honors to the country.

Another concern over the New Clark City Sports Complex, which deserves to be addressed by the
government, is what happens when the SEA Games are over. From an original estimate of P3 billion, the
expenditure for the sports hub is estimated to reach P9.5 billion. At that cost, the country cannot afford to
have the sports complex turn into a white elephant after the games.

Presidential adviser on flagship projects Vince Dizon has reassured the public that the sports complex,
which includes hotel-type accommodations, will be turned into an athletes’ training area and center for
sports education, which the country still lacks. The facilities can also be used for conferences and related
activities.

The road to becoming a white elephant opens as soon as the SEA Games are over. With public misgivings
being expressed even before the games start, the government must be ready to prove the critics wrong, and
show the people that this is P9.5 billion in tax money put to proper use. C c c