Filipinos can’t afford to lose on drug war

BAÑOC

I remember a line of our chant every time we had a road run in our ROTC subject back in my college days.

That chant was copied from US marine soldiers’ chant when they had their jogging too, entitled C-130 (Army Running Cadence).Part of the chant went this way: “Let’s go men to the open field, and fight the enemy in an open range.

If I die in the combat zone, box me up and ship me home. Pin my medals upon my chest. Tell my momma I’ve done my best.”

I can’t just imagine the kind of sympathy mothers and other immediate relatives of soldiers who died in their battle zone have when they are told that their sons did their best, but unfortunately their best was not good enough.I set in mind the above- quoted lines when I took the bar examination.

I did my best in my preparation like going to a war. I had to maximize every hour of my pre-bar review, considering that I was a working student and I was only given two months’ leave by my company when I took the said examination.

I did everything within my control, and I prayed hard to God to do the rest, those which were beyond my human power.I had a positive thinking that if I just do my best with strong determination, with sincere efforts, with intelligent direction and with skillful execution, I can get my target in passing the hardest examination in the country.

Of course I placed in mind that on top of everything is my faith to my God.However, I was also thinking that if unfortunately I failed in that examination, at least I could tell my father and my immediate relatives that I did my best.

If it happened, I was pretty sure that they would perfectly understand me. I was positive that I could get their sympathy. I was in no doubt that they would not condemn me.I believe that this is the kind of feeling that most Filipinos had when President Rodrigo Duterte said in his speech that, “Look, itong shabu and drugs, et cetera, cannot be solved by one man for a president for one term.”“It has bogged nations. Hindi nga kaya ng Amerika, tayo pa?

America is under siege because of drugs. And they are far worse than us. Yes, of course, they do not admit it. Pero until now, I said, they’re fighting a useless war there that never ends.”President Duterte admitted that he only realized the extent of the drug problem when he became President because he already had access to all important data.

He asked the Filipino people for an extension of his promise to finish the drug problem within three to six months.While the opposition leaders and administration critics like Cong. Edcel Lagman, Cong. Garry Alejano, Sen. Antonio Trillanes et cetera interpreted the statement of Duterte as failure on his part of his war on drugs, the Filipino people, especially those 16 million — others believe it’s an overwhelming 20 million — who voted for him for the position perfectly understand his point and are willing to give him the extension he wants.

The supporters of the President do not see the statement as a sign that he is in a surrender mode; on the contrary, more than ever, he is in a fighting mode. He still has enough time.

People have seen his sincerity in his war against drugs. They see the big difference, particularly if the comparison is between current leadership and the previous administration of then lousy president Benigno Aquino who did not give such problem any priority to be solved.Filipinos are very understanding because in the first place they too know the enormous drug problem.

When they voted for the President, they knew that he would do something serious to solve the problem that no other president could ever do. They know that the President was preparing for a very tough war.

Being aware that the President has done something, and if he fails in his promise, every normal Filipino without vested interest will, instead of condemning him, sympathize and understand for fighting a war for and in behalf of his people.

We should not be sorry for the President; we should be sorry for ourselves, for many of us may have contributed only too little, if not empty blabber, in this war. Granting that Duterte admits that he fails in his war on drugs and tells the Filipinos that he has done his best, he still receives well-deserved praises from every Filipino who has the country in mind.

I am, however, confident that the President, with the help of us all, will eventually win in this war.  I even suspect that because of the unshakeable trust that the Filipinos have on the President, the former are more than willing to support him not only within his term but also beyond it by also supporting anyone that he endorses in the next presidential election.

Unfortunately for the President’s critics, this enormous support for the President is something that they miserably fail to figure out. So until today, they continue to box with the wind.