Batas Mauricio
SO, okay, Sen. Leila de Lima maybe correct in saying that the bad image the Philippines is having in the international community right now could be attributable to the spate of killings that have been happening on account of the fierce anti-illegal drugs campaign of President Duterte.
But then, to whom can we attribute the proliferation of drugs in the country today? Surely, de Lima cannot deny the fact that shabu and other deadly drugs have become the No. 1 scourge among Filipinos at present because of the inaction or, perhaps, tacit permission, of high government officials who ruled the country during the last six years of the Aquino government, where de Lima was a high official.
And if we are to believe the witnesses who have been testifying in the investigation being conducted by the Committee on Justice of the House of Representatives in the last several days, it is de Lima herself, as the former secretary of the Department of Justice, who allowed shabu to be traded profitably right inside the national penitentiary by people who allegedly bribed her with millions.
Here’s what I wrote about shabu in 2014, under the Aquino government: “The undeniable truth in the rampaging criminality almost everywhere in the country now is this: criminals have become so brazen, daring, and heinous because at the time they are committing crimes, they are out of their minds. They are out of their minds because they are drug-crazed. It is easy for them to be drug-crazed because illegal drugs, particularly shabu, is readily available everywhere.
“During our younger days, when illegal drugs were the domain only of the rich and the powerful, we never heard of girls being raped, killed, and even burned, we never heard of brothers and sisters, and parents and offspring, killing each other, of important government officials stealing billions of pesos in government funds.
“It was only when shabu and other illegal drugs became abundant, despite claims by police and government authorities that they are fighting this scourge tooth and nail, that brazen, daring, and heinous crimes started rearing their ugly heads. If we want to put an end to crime and criminality, President Aquino must work double time to quash the highly profitable illegal drugs trade in this country. But, can he? Or, will he?
“Over and above this drug menace, however, is a more fundamental reason for the breakdown of law and order in our country, of the everising crime and criminality, and also why there is a proliferation of illegal drugs and shabu. This is the breakdown of spirituality among Filipinos as a whole.
“Whether our countrymen will admit it or not, it is clear that nobody among us seems to be reading God’s Word anymore, and nobody seems to be obeying His commands anymore. Because of this, almost every Filipino has become more prone to committing crimes and are more inclined to be licentious in every aspect of life, giving up even the most basic rules on good manners and right conduct.
“Many Filipinos no longer think of what will happen to them after they die, or where they will go after they breathed their last. Since they are no longer reading the Bible, they have become ignorant that they have a soul which subsists after death, and which will stand trial for all that they have done here on earth. It is this ignorance that drives crime and criminality in this country.”
E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com
