Last Tuesday’s arrest of a suspected drug pusher who somehow developed the brazen guts to sell shabu in his Facebook page not only highlighted the severity of the drug menace in these parts but also came on the heels of the murders of two ex-cops and a jail guard in Talisay City last Sunday.
Whatever possessed John Angel Bantillo, a resident of Barangay Sambag 2 in Cebu City, to sell shabu at a discounted rate to those interested to buy—and risk being identified a user—is something of a head scratcher especially in light of the bloody all-out war on illegal drugs.
Yet somehow someone caught a screenshot of the FB post which enabled the Cebu City police to arrest Bantillo, who is likely regretting his decision right now if he is still alive to do so by the time of this writing.
Though Bantillo’s arrest may be a small win for the Cebu police, it still didn’t cleanse the stain that is the murders of retired cops Edgar Causon and Ferdinand Navalez as well as the murder of jail guard Jessie Castañares, which all occurred last Sunday.
Though the motives for the murders of Causon and Navalez had yet to be determined, Castañares’s alleged drug links have again cast the spotlight on the unfettered drug activities in the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC).
It also cast in an unfavorable light the Talisay City government’s failure to curb illegal drug activities in their own backyard, a situation that Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña blamed on Talisay City Mayor Eduardo Gullas who didn’t take the tirade lightly.
These developments specifically Bantillo’s arrest may or may not change the public’s mindset over the war on drugs which remains favorable to the Duterte administration.
In fact the deaths of Causon and Navalez merely reinforced the police’s contention that drug syndicates are using the outrage of rights activists towards the deaths of drug suspects to stoke public opinion against them while executing cops under the guise of “riding-in-tandem” assailants.
And we’re not even talking about the allegations of Talisay City officials allegedly receiving protection money from drug syndicates, a possibility that cannot be ruled out in light of the raids against local officials linked to illegal drugs like the Parojinogs of Ozamiz City.
Which boils down to one thing; is the war on drugs won through shedding of blood or by effective enforcement of existing laws that have been skirted by some law enforcers in favor of summary executions?
Bantillo’s arrest showed that lawful enforcement and due process is still an effective deterrent not only against illegal drugs but crime as well.
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