I say this is bunk. I say this is pastrami.
Yes, it could be true the NPA is into the culture of marijuana. Nothing novel about this. Rebellions and revolutions the world over, particularly in Latin America and Central Asia are into drugs one way or the other, as are their governments. The drug trade in Afghanistan is virtually monopolized by the government. The Taliban got by largely because of lush drug proceeds, and this trade was in the open. It’s really possible Muslim terrorist groups in Southeast Asia, including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), have their hooks on this evil weed or substance.
But having said that, the awful truth is that narcotics planted their tentacles in the Philippines because our military and police establishments played major roles. I have some close friends in the Philippine National Police, several generals among them. Whenever I bring up the matter of shabu or narcotics in general, they change the subject, pretend not to have heard it, then whistle wistfully. Two subjects are generally taboo. First, drugs and police involvement; second, Sen. Panfilo Lacson. I am not stupid. I understand.
Now no less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo plays the role of coloratura soprano in accusing CPP-NPA leaders of digging their hands deep into the cookie jar of marijuana and shabu. This early, the government is seemingly admitting defeat in their "all-out war" and washing their hands off. That was a big blunder, the president saying even the "rich and the powerful" would be flushed out, arrested, arraigned, convicted and jailed. Come again?
All it took was about a week of theatrical pomp and empty bombast.
The names of Sen. Bobby Barbers, Fred Lim, the so-called "four aces" were bandied around. The appellation "Anti-Drug Czar" went up the marquee. The criminals were warned their days were numbered. The drug lords were supposed to shiver in their timbers. They didn’t. They knew everything was palabas. And so after a week of hauling in hundreds of seedy characters, street rogues, squatter suspects, lowly neighborhood thugs, the flotsam and jetsam of society, the whole war against drugs went down to a piffle. Not a single police general was caught in the government dragnet, not a single drug lord, not a single cigar-puffing Malacañang biggie.
The war against prostitution is never won because police squads stage raucous raids, arrest hundreds of misbehaving girls half-nude, and forcibly drag them into wagons. The dirt-poor prostitutes most of the time are largely the sorry and pathetic victims of this vile and vicious racket. The ringleaders are never caught; the real white slave traders, the pimps, escape in a jiffy. In due time, the girl prostitutes are released. But hardly ever the big-bellied bosses, the mama-sans. They fork over scads of money to the police. And everything starts all over again.
The whole thing reminded me of a similar operetta early during President Fidel Ramos’ administration.
FVR had appointed then Vice President Joseph Estrada as head of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC). Big, burly, his words angry mortar bursts, Erap Estrada tried very hard to look the part. Crime was then rampant as it is today. Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez and his police thugs had just been arraigned for the rape-murder of Los Baños coed Mary Eileen Sarmenta. And so Erap erupted the only way he knew, buffo, theatrical, a laughing Buddha in reverse. I shall always remember those words which thundered approximately: "As for you, criminals, your days are numbered. There will be no mercy." Hah!
Unforgettable words these for their pretense, their hypocrisy. And it takes an Erap to duplicate Erap. During his inaugural address as president after the 1998 elections, Mr. Estrada unburdened himself of another lulu: "Walang kumpadre, walang kamag-anak, walang kaibigan!" Oh, Mother of Mercy, will the time ever come when we Filipinos will be spared of shameless demagogues? GMA has gotten into the same act – promises, promises, promises. Welsh, welsh, welsh. And this defies explanation because she was unto the manor born, her father was president, and we all presumed Christian culture and upbringing would make a difference.
I have often been asked why can’t I take it easy on GMA.
My answer has always been that I would like to but I can’t. I have to judge her the same way I have judged past presidents. We Filipinos are stuck in a sinking world, and I would be the first to exclaim: Mirabile dictu! If GMA would change, backtrack and reform. Then we can be friends again. But somehow, the outer world escapes her. Maybe she tries, but the people around her gum her up. The 20th century sped past her. And now the 21st century comes at her with even more speed, more problems, more headaches – a holocaust of what to do, what to say, where to go.
Honestly, I hope she can find her way.
You can’t be neutral or silent, or non-committal on the issue. You occupy the most pre-eminent position in the republic, that of president. You decide, whatever the outcome might be. And you decide now, not tomorrow, not next week. You can’t let the Republic dangle on a shoestring.
Oh yes, the next issue. Are you or are you not going to run for president in 2004? You’ve played it cute and very smart so far, clinging to your Dec. 30, 2002 pledge renouncing the presidency in 2004, but allowing many of your constituents to clamor with more stridency each day that you run – oh by golly you run – because the nation needs you more than ever. In fairness to yourself, in fairness to one and all, in fairness to the nation, you have to do an Archimedes and bellow your decision to run or not to run.
If you do not make a decision now, many will conclude Malacañang is manipulating the citizenry, and certainly all organs and institutions of the government to go for a "Run, Gloria, Run!" clamor. The clamor can also be manipulated by pouring massive resources into media so media will make it sound deafening, irresistible, irreversible. The clamor will be made to sound like an "act of God" beseeching La Gloria to fare forth. The surveys, of course, will play a major role but the surveys can also be nudged here and there subliminally to favor a GMA candidacy.
This is the time to stand on the hill, Ma’m, and show them what stuff you are made of.
If indeed, your mind has never changed since Dec. 30, 2002, then for chrissakes say it, shout it, belch it. Say something like this: "I stand by what I said Dec. 30 last year, while our greatest national hero was listening. It was to Jose Rizal and all of you that I vouchsafed that pledge. I shall not run for the presidency in 2004 for reasons I have explained time and again. That is my word of honor. That is as final as final can be."
Or if circumstances have changed radically, and now you wish to run, we the citizenry will appreciate your saying the following: "A president’s responsibility to lead his or her people is the loneliest in the world. The world whirls and despite my pledge to stand down, the enemy – terror – is at the nation’s neck. Shall I cower and flee? Or shall I continue to fight at the urging of the citizenry? I have a covenant with the people, I shall heed that covenant. I shall run."
You can’t go on with two horses in midstream, Mrs. President. Whatever you decide, you and you alone, will be responsible for the results. The presidency is always a gamble, like throwing dice at the stars. And often the presidents who gambles when the stakes are highest, turn out to be the greatest presidents.