Deprivation is the answer

As expected, the abduction, drugging and then raping of the young daughter of a government anti-narcotics agent by members of a drug syndicate, apparently in retaliation for an intensified crackdown on illegal drugs, provoked widespread indignation in the Philippines.

Lawmakers are calling for an all-out war against all drug syndicates while no less than President Arroyo, who has backed the abolition of the death penalty in 2006, has reportedly been considering having capital punishment reinstated against drug traffickers.

Even ordinary folk who read the news about the atrocity were enraged. But most are fearful at the same time, for the crime has taken the drug menace to a new and more dangerous level, one that could potentially plunge this country into the likes of Colombia and Mexico.

Yet, if we consider everything, there would have been no need to go to war in the context of what happened in Colombia and what continues to happen in Mexico, or to reimpose the death penalty.

All it would have taken was for the law enforcement people to just do their jobs, especially at a time when the problem of illegal drugs was still manageable. Unfortunately for every Filipino, the problem was allowed to fester and grow.

There used to be a time when the situation was considered personal — just a few families here and there that had some private drug-related problems they had to contend within the privacy of their home.

But the problem grew, and as it grew, swallowed up everything it came into contact with, including those that had actually nothing to do with the problem of abuse itself. These included law enforcers and politicians who learned quickly the profitability in playing ball.

So the drug syndicates not only grew bigger, they also grew bolder. And since illegal drugs are essentially a destroyer of lives, so it is that those who engage in them become hardened and oblivious to the value of human life.

So, the obvious question now is whether the problem can still be licked. And if it can, by what approach should the fight be carried. These are very important questions that need to be answered and answered in a practical manner.

It cannot be the all-out war that some lawmakers suggest because violence decimates only the players from the opposing sides of the conflict. And it cannot be the reimposition of the death penalty because it is controversial, takes too long, and affects only few at a time.

The real battle is in the homes and in the schools, where the problems actually cropped up in the first place. There is little or nothing that can be done anymore for those whom we might consider the “casualties” of this war.

But there is a need to protect and shield those who have not yet been exposed. The moment we succeed in isolating and protecting those who have not yet been exposed to illegal drugs, we succeed in depriving the “industry” with a vast new potential market.

It is not an easy task, of course, and it needs the cooperation of everyone who has something to contribute to the effort. All-out war and reimposition of the death penalty are directed only at those already “inside.” What concerns more profoundly are the “outsiders.”

Deprivation should be the answer. Deprive the enemy of supplies and ammunition and you beat him. Deprive a fire of combustible materials and it fizzles out. The same with illegal drugs. Deprive it of users and the problem dies by itself.