SO MANY International Agencies, the UN (United Nations), the UK (United Kingdom), the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), have negative news releases concerning the manner with which the present regime of President Rodrigo Duterte is doing to stop the problems of drugs and corruption in our country.
He also censures the two largest local media on broadcasts, the GMA and ABS-CBN, threatening to remove the franchises of these two stations for bias reporting. The EJK (extrajudicial killings) issue is number one but the president insists that no outside agencies can stop him in his programs concerning the problems of drugs and corruptions. He cited that ABS-CBN failed to air his news where Robin Padilla talked of his commendations on the Duterte plan of action to rule the country during the campaign period of the election.
Did President Duterte check if said news release had a sponsor to pay the legal fee in minutes of airing it? This is a code in public broadcasting system. They cannot exist on “gratis et amore” principle. They need cash to sustain their existence. Some news are released with this note-ADs (advertisements) are paid for by an ally of the party. Some ads, especially during election campaign period, have the name of the sponsor paying for the Ads.
I do not know if the president has the right to remove the franchise of any legal public media system. This is an act of a Dictator in the making. The ire of the President is based on the facts that GMA and ABS-CBN air news which are the public's opinion on the way he rules the country.
He is known as the punisher according to the Times magazine. He is in the list of the famous newsmakers together with Putin, Osama Bin Laden, and other notorious men ahead of the Holy Father, the Pope and other respectable men and women of honor and worth.
The way our country is going under the present regime can be tempered. The possible alternative programs are seeking the ways of mitigating or modifying an instigating justice system blending it with understanding, one marked with empathy and mercy.
Violence begets violence. When emotions run high, we would like to fight a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life just to realize we are all losers in the end in our beloved country. Peace begets peace. When we calm down and get to our better senses, sit down and discuss intelligently what we can do to live peacefully in a bilateral agreement, no one is a loser. We have the win-win situation as a result.
The 12 measures in the Senate aim to improve and boost more humane government in the campaign versus drugs and corruption. The first is the Anti-Drug Penal Institution Act. This seeks to establish a detention program and facility for high-level drug offenders within the National Penitentiary System under the Bureau of Corrections.
The creation of the Presidential Anti-Drug Authority (Prada), this measure is to further strengthen the fight against illegal drugs by unifying four major programs-enforcement, prosecution, prevention and rehabilitation into a single government agency. With these, we may achieve a drug-free Philippines for the future generations.
Another measure seeks to provide affordable drug rehabilitation treatment for the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC) beneficiaries who are drug dependents can avail of this.
Drug addicts and pushers, who surrender are made to sign promissory letters attesting to their wish for rehabilitation. There are already some rehabilitation places in Nueva Ecija for example where they can seek treatment at government expense. Some are tasked to do civic duties as helping in cleaning some places of garbage or trash. Some are helping by catching traffic offenders. These are training grounds to imbue them of the importance of not going against the laws.
Laudable programs are done in some parts of the country. In Compostela Valley Province, Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Secretary Benjamin Reyes graced the Launching and Commitment of Support for Oplan Liwanag, a province-wide transformative intervention program for surrenderers for reform. It is a two-month program that aims to rehabilitate and reform through lectures and workshop on spirituality, psychosocial, health awareness, marriage and family enrichment, life skills and livelihood training skills. Surrenderers are given rooms with complete facilities to serve their personal needs.
The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) sees the successful drive in fighting the war on illegal drugs as a significant step towards achieving further economic progress in the region. There is comparatively a peaceful community where people can live without being harassed.
Another big rehabilitation edifice is being financed by the government in Cagayan de Oro. The same facilities are provided like the one in Compostela Valley. All beneficiaries of these rehabilitation houses emerge as lawful citizens are freed of their drug addiction. They become active crusaders in the campaign against drugs. Parents in homes with their sons or daughters who are addicted to drugs should not tolerate or hide them. They must enlist them in drug rehabilitation homes to prevent wrecking their own homes with crimes like stealing money from them to be able to buy the drugs which they crave for.
Their highly affected way of life or worse during moments when they are high on drugs may lead them to do criminal acts even against their own family members. It is a menace unequaled in a family's peaceful home life.
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