Opinion: Leaders Who Failed The Expectations of Filipinos Against Illegal Drugs

Illegal drugs are all over the Philippines, and some rich and powerful politicians are involved with these criminal activities. And because of the bad effects of narcotics, various crimes have been reported and committed by these drug users. They strike without warning to their victims, and often their effects can be devastating to the criminals and their victims.

Leni Robredo & Mar Roxas

Before May 2016 elections, Presidential aspirant Mar Roxas claimed he knew where to buy “shabu” in Davao City. He said, “Davao City alone is ranked as the 4th highest incidence of crine in the country; there is an illegal drug problem in Davao.”

As a former DILG Secretary, he knew the locations where to buy narcotics and did not even do something to end the country’s major problem of illegal drugs. In his statement alone, it seems he knew a lot of things about narcotics but remained silent about it. 

Roxas even dared President Rodrigo Duterte to accompany him. In the interview he said to Duterte, “now, I can accompany you to Davao. Do you want me to accompany you? We can buy drugs in Davao.” 

In a blog post of Mr. Alon Calinao Dy, he said, “if Mar Roxas knows where to buy illegal drugs, why until now he does not want to reveal all the secrets of illegal activites to the authorities? Did he really mean what he said?”

Of course, a recent issue about Vice President Leni Robredo who wanted to decriminalize drug use across the country. She said in an interview, “why don’t we look at the best practices and try them, because we have enough lessons in the past from other countries to determine what works and what doesn’t.”

What works for these countries of Venezuela, Colombia, and Mexico might not work for our country. Mr. Dy said, “I think Robredo should also have considered Singapore, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, China, and other countries who have harsh punishment among drug traffickers but were proven to be successful of eliminating the proliferation of illegal drugs in their respective countries.” 

Aside from President Rodrigo Duterte claimed that the brains of shabu users shrink after they use the drug, this methamphetamine or shabu can cause a lot of health problems to human being. 

Once a person becomes addicted to shabu, its long lasting and harmful side effects include memory loss, paranoia, aggression, hallucinations, constant confusion, insomia, violent thoughts, respiratory problems, heart attack, sudden death, and many more. That’s one of the reasons why it should not be allowed in the Philippines.