EDITORIAL - Lethal drugs

Ronald Bae, who gunned down his neighbors in Cavite shortly before he was shot dead by police, was supposed to have been on the watch list of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency since 2010, when he was arrested for drug possession. Yet when police finally ended Bae’s rampage last Friday, shabu or methamphetamine hydrochloride was reportedly found in his house along with rifle ammunition.

Obviously, it was easy for a jobless man facing a drug case but freed on bail to obtain shabu along with the Colt caliber .45 semi-automatic that he used to gun down his victims. Suspected of drug trafficking, Bae still managed to continue obtaining drugs, as indicated by the shabu reportedly seized from his home in Kawit.

Many people get drunk without going on a turkey shoot in the neighborhood, so there is suspicion that Bae went berserk from a combination of booze and drugs. Where did he get the drugs? For a man supposedly being watched by the PDEA, Bae appeared free to do as he pleased. Perhaps serving for two terms as a barangay kagawad or village councilman gave him access to illegal items, without fear of landing behind bars.

Bae also seemed to enjoy friends in the right places. Neighbors reportedly complained to the local police that Bae had fired his gun during the New Year revelry and again on Jan. 2, but there was no police response. Even the governor of Cavite complained that it took a long time for the local police to arrive at the scene of the carnage.

The deadly rampage shows the consequences of laxity in police work, whether in crime prevention or direct response to a threat. Bae’s case also highlights the need to intensify the campaign against prohibited drugs, which can be obtained, it seems, with relative ease in this country. The Kawit rampage is a tragic reminder that illegal drugs, like guns, can be lethal.