How serious is our drug problem?

The US State Department’s 2016 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report says that addiction to shabu (street name for methamphetamine or meth) is the most significant drug problem of the Philippines, with the narcotic continually growing as the most widely trafficked in the country. A UN World Drug Report also tagged the Philippines as the country having the highest rate of shabu use in the whole of East Asia – with even the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) releasing a pastoral letter last year expressing concern about the proliferation of the drug problem in the country and the alleged involvement of government officials.

While people would only whisper about police officials being drug protectors in connivance with mayors or governors, President Rody Duterte has taken the unprecedented step of disclosing the names of high ranking police and government officials allegedly involved in illegal drugs – with an additional 50 local officials now also under investigation according to DILG Secretary Ismael Sueno. This is starting to convince many Filipinos that the drug menace is indeed, as widespread and pernicious as they had suspected.

Topping the list in President Duterte’s “matrix” of individuals allegedly involved in the drug trade concentrated in the New Bilibid Prison is Senator Leila de Lima, who has laughed off the president’s disclosure as “rubbish.” Millions of Filipinos however do not take the issue of illegal drugs as a joke, with estimates of the annual drug trade ranging from P350 billion to P500 billion in the Philippines alone.

According to a report by the Philippine National Police, about 27 percent or 11,321 of the total 42,026 barangays in the country has been infiltrated by illegal drugs, with the situation worse in Metro Manila because 94 percent of the 1,611 barangays are affected by the drug menace – with almost four million Filipinos now classified as drug addicts.

Our sources from the US Drug Enforcement Administration disclosed that some of the biggest drug cartels from Mexico including the dreaded Sinaloa (whose leader Joaquin “El Chapo Guzman” is cooling his heels in prison while awaiting extradition to the US) started infiltrating the Southeast Asian region as a “new market” in large part due to the intense efforts of the Mexican government against the cartels, with experts saying the number of “intentional homicides” related to the drug war has gone down by as much as 30 percent under  President  Enrique Peña Nieto’s watch.

According to the information I gathered, this drug “pivot to Asia” has its roots about a decade ago when the US passed the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act that forced meth “chemists” to flee to Mexico, in the process discovering that the precursors needed for drug production could be bought more cheaply from Asia – specifically China and the so-called Golden Triangle of Myanmar, Laos and North Thailand. As described by an official of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), “crystal methamphetamine is exploding in Southeast Asia,” citing the 25 tons of meth seized across the region in 2015. Obviously, the Philippines has become an important transshipment point due to its “geographic location with its enormous coastlines and porous borders,” making it easy for narco-traffickers to engage in their illicit trade.

Just last month, operatives of the PNP and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) seized close to P1 billion worth of shabu in an abandoned house in a coastal barangay in Claveria, Cagayan – with Governor Manuel Mamba saying the haul was only “the tip of the iceberg.” He accused mayors of protecting international drug syndicates, saying the coastal towns are serving as drop-off points for illicit drugs coming from Taiwan and China. A lot of the drug rings operating shabu labs in the country are also reportedly owned by Chinese nationals, prompting many Filipinos to remark that, “China is invading the country through illegal drugs.”

PNP chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa also disclosed during a Senate hearing that major sources of illegal drugs coming into the country are China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. A few days ago, the Philippines summoned Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua to explain the intelligence reports. The Chinese Ambassador admitted that there are some Chinese nationals who are indeed engaged in illegal drug activities, but that his government does not condone such activities. “Whoever is involved in the illegal drug activities, even if they are Chinese citizens, must be punished in accordance with laws,” he said. 

Since the president started waging his war against illegal drugs, more than 611,000 drug users and pushers have voluntarily surrendered while about 1,700 were killed during police operations according to an ABS-CBN report. General Dela Rosa said the killings outside of legitimate police operations are perpetrated by members of drug syndicates who are riding on the government’s campaign against drugs to wipe each other out.

Some also posit that during a legit raid, one of the operatives may just be a rogue cop who takes advantage of the police operation to get rid of the suspect who could implicate him. But the gangland-style executions of suspected drug pushers and runners is making our image before the international community precarious, to say the least, which is why the allegations must be proven in court. As Chief Justice Sereno said, we must “keep the social fabric intact… and prevent society’s descent into anarchy.”

But when all is said and done, this war on drugs must end sooner than later – hopefully within the six-month time frame projected by President Duterte. Let’s face it, our international image is currently on a downward spiral. Hopefully we can recover just as quickly.

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