EDITORIAL - Must we go back to life before drug war?

The problem with the government's aggressive war on drugs is that the vast majority of Filipinos who support it are not doing enough, or even anything, to manifest such support. This silent majority apparently prefers to quietly enjoy the many benefits the campaign's success has generated, oblivious to the fact that the implementors of the campaign are not as good in implementing it as they are in thwarting the assault of the few but noisy critics.

There is a problem because unless the other side is heard, which ironically is the side of the majority, the side that is always heard, which is that of the noisy minority, will emerge as the seemingly prevalent sentiment. And when a seemingly prevalent sentiment is sustained, it will eventually become permanent. And with permanence comes a semblance of truth.

That the campaign is succeeding and in fact generating conditions that are contrary to what the noisy minority would have everyone believe can best be seen in how the business climate and the Philippine economy is behaving. It is important to use these measures because nowhere are there more sensitive and instantaneously reactive gauges than the business sector and the national economy.

Just the other day, the news from these fronts were not only very good and encouraging, they were actually counter-attacking notions peddled by critics of the government that the present administration was going to the dogs and taking along with it its hallmark campaign against illegal drugs. The Philippine stock market, taking the cue from sustained investor optimism, scaled to a new historic high, the Philippine STAR led off in its main business story for Wednesday, October 4.

To be sure, there have been unintended consequences of embarking on such a massive and aggressive campaign. There were truly sorry incidents in which the police crossed the line between protectors and murderers. But these kinks in the campaign are not policy despite what the critics claim. Neither do they characterize it even remotely. There have been a lot of misrepresentations on the issue and they need to be sorted out carefully and set aright.

But the government cannot do it alone. It needs the credible assistance of third parties, the silent supporters who can now do many of the things they cannot do previously on account of the unsafe environment that was the necessary outcome of a nation getting hooked on drugs. The consequence of apathy will be a return to a life under threat from drugs, which is what will happen when government, unable to defend and justify its campaign alone, will be forced to abandon it.