Philippine president Duterte's war on drugs: Challenge to the law enforcers and the judiciary

“We cannot solve crime by dismantling the very foundations of the society that we seek to protect.”

The whole history of the Philippines has been in whole a quest for achieving true freedom and peace. But real peace, I believe, has always been nothing but a golden treasure at the end of the rainbow. To these days, our country has never tasted of its rewards.

Our forefathers have fought different races that occupied our lands be it from the Spaniards, Americans, and Japanese. But today, we are fighting a war different from ever before. We are now fighting with a modern enemy - something that have emerged from our own weaknesses. Something that feed on those who are addicted, dependent and corrupt. It has unsurprisingly plagued all walks of life.

The cry of the masses to end this threat of dangerous drugs terrorizing the lives of many Filipinos has catapulted a man known for his visceral action in fighting crimes to the highest office of the land bannered with his slogan to end criminalities in three (3) to six (6) months.

My question now, is how do you feel hearing the news everyday of people who are killed allegedly in legitimate police operations and by unknown ‘vigilantes’? Are all those people who were killed in these reports precisely were members of and part of this narcotics trade? Maybe yes or maybe not. But for sure, the dead will tell no tales.


The fight against drugs and its illegal traffic by the Government is now becoming very hot.  The dangerous drugs trade has become a curse and a scourge to our society. In the fight to eradicate this menace, law enforcers should be equipped with the resources to be able to perform their duties better. However, we cannot, in any way, compromise our society’s fundamental values enshrined in our Constitution. Otherwise, we will be seen as slowly dismantling the very foundations of society that we seek to protect. (People v. Cogaed, GR. No. 200334)

The peace officers should be more mindful of the provisions of the Bill of Rights in the prosecution of the accused. As it happened, peace officers should not allow their over-zealousness to get the better of them, resulting in their disregard of the requirements of a valid search and seizure that renders inadmissible vital evidence they had invalidly seized. (People v. Mengote 210 SCRA 174, 182)

This should be a lesson to other peace officers. The impulsiveness may be the very cause of the acquittal of persons who deserve to be convicted, escaping the clutches of the law because, ironically enough, it has not been observed by those who are supposed to enforce it. (People v. Mengote 210 SCRA 174, 182)
Sadly, no matter how good this administration desire for solving criminality, if the people are not equipped with the right armoury – which is education, both in the law enforcers and the public in general, this is hardly victorious.

Those in the administration of justice would have no right to expect ordinary people to be law-abiding if we do not insist on the full protection of their rights. Some lawmen, prosecutors, and judges may tend to gloss over an illegal search and seizure as long as the law enforcers show the alleged evidence of the crime regardless of the methods by which they were obtained. This kind of attitude condones law-breaking in the name of law enforcement. Ironically, it only fosters the more rapid breakdown of our system of justice, and the eventual denigration of society. While we appreciate and encourage the efforts of law enforces to uphold the law and to preserve the peace and security of society, we nevertheless admonish them to act with deliberate care and within the parameters set by the Constitution and the law. Truly, the end never justifies the means. (Pepole v. Nuevas GR No. 170233)

Indeed, we can note of the growing number of acquittals for dangerous drugs cases to the failure of enforces to observe the proper arrest, search and seizure procedure under the law. Some bona fide arrest and seizures in dangerous drugs cases result in the acquittal of the accused because of drug enforcement operatives compromise the integrity and evidentiary worth of the seized items. It behoves the Courts to remind law enforcement agencies to exert greater effort to apply the rules and procedures governing the custody, control and handling of seized drugs.

It is recognized that strict compliance with the legal prescriptions of RA 9165 may not always be possible. Thus, non-compliance therewith is not always necessarily fatal. However, the lapses in the procedure must be recognized, addressed and explained in terms of their justifiable grounds, and the integrity and evidentiary values of the evidence seized must be shown to have been preserved. (People v. Garcia, GR. No. 173480)

When we come to the point where we realize that all these that we do have been a mistake, let us not blame all alone the government for all the faults without implicating our own selves for not being vigilant enough to participate in the call for making our society free from all criminalities. Fair enough, all these nonsense of the world started from the problems within ourselves.