Netnet Camomot  INTELLIGENCE reports are now as “in” as extrajudicial killings. Way back in 1980, a high school batch almost cancelled their graduation ball due to a bomb threat. It’s 2016, the 1980 high school batch now have grandkids, and intelligence reports still include bomb threats. 1980 also meant martial law. Here we are, 36 years later, again dealing with the possible return of martial law. And the late dictator, who imposed martial law in 1972, will be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani next month. Ano ba talaga, Kuya? If only we could borrow Michael Phelps from the US Olympic swimming team so he can give some Pinoys his “death stare” aka #PhelpsFace. But he’s busy collecting gold medals—25 so far, since the 2004 Summer Olympics. And that’s without asking why Rio’s Olympic pools were turning green—the International Swimming Federation or Fina says, “the water tanks ran out of some of the chemicals used in the water treatment process. As a result, the pH level of the water was outside the usual range, causing the discoloration.” There’s also a reason why the icy blue platinum hair of Phelps’ fellow US swimmer Ryan Lochte is turning green—the chlorinated pools. Green must also be the color for Environment Secretary Gina Lopez whose rahah approach to her work is seemingly inspiring her audience to do their part in greening the environment. There are birthday celebrants who, way before Lopez was appointed as secretary, were already planting at least one tree seedling on their birthdays. Imagine—if all the more than 100 million Pinoys will adopt this tradition, will Pinas run out of land for the trees? But for now, like the pools in Rio, Pinas is also dealing with chemicals—the chemicals mixed in shabu, that is. These are the culprits which make the drug addict’s world go round. And round. And round. And while the Olympics is celebrating unity in diversity, Pinas is stuck with diversity sans unity. Hmmm. If the president makes good on his threat, we can be on the verge of another round of martial law, with cardboard justice continuing to justify the existence of dead bodies whose sudden demise could be summed up in one word: Drugs. Yes, these are strange times in Pinas. Only more than a month with the new administration and we’re feeling like it has been years, and Philippine National Police Chief Bato dela Rosa feels the same way. Too much agenda, too little time. There are now two groups of Pinoys: the non-shabu group finally feeling safe to roam the streets even after midnight unless they’re afraid of ending up as collateral damage; and the shabu group that has to hide the whole day, afraid of ending up as samples of cardboard justice. The shabu group has three choices: deny, surrender, or wait for authorities to catch them in the act of selling and/or using shabu which may lead them to jail. Shabu is not green, though, but marijuana is. And so is the US dollar which is probably part of the equation when money changes hands in multi-million drug deals. But marijuana has joined the world of medicine, it’s no longer illegal in some places. Cigarettes and alcohol could even be more harmful, what with all the warnings they’re dangerous to your health, with anti-cigarette ads even featuring damaged lungs. One’s well-being should always be top priority. But with some exercises causing injuries and making us familiar with ACL and meniscus tears, one should also beware of exercise that’s dangerous to his health. The safest—stationary biking, I guess. No traffic, no pollution, no bugs bugging your eyes, ears, nose, hair, and skin, not much pressure on the knees. Yes, biking inside your house can be the best exercise. For shabu addicts, though, it’s anything that can keep them preoccupied while wide awake—washing clothes, waxing the floor, cleaning the toilet. Yup, that’s the good part. Wait till they have nothing more to do, and paranoia has set in. The president himself has talked about this shabu-induced paranoia in his speeches. Any family with a shabu-addicted member, has been there, done that with the effects of that paranoia. Naa daw PDEA sa gawas sa balay, gatagad niya. And each car or person passing by the house becomes suspect. Whew. Praning much! Still, that’s the good part. Once he starts believing that you, his own kapamilya, is the PDEA, aguy, unsaon na lang. Or he may see you as someone else—his mortal enemy, the bully who beat him to a pulp when they were kids, or the devil—that’s the time you will turn green and should flee. So many families have been destroyed by drugs. President Rody Duterte said there are 600 thousand confirmed drug users/pushers in Pinas, probably based on the surrenders inspired by the government’s Oplan Tokhang? Thus, there are also 600 thousand families who suffer each time these drug users/pushers are high. It’s the worst thing that can happen to any family, and it can never be considered as “in,” like a trend.