Pubdate: Wed, 29 Jun 2016 Source: Sun.Star Cebu (Philippines) Column: Small Bites Copyright: 2016 Sun.Star Contact: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1690 Author: Eddie O. Barrita KILLING ADDICTS PRESIDENT-ELECT Rodrigo "Digong" Duterte said he believes drug addicts who cannot be rehabilitated or jailed are better off dead. Duterte said these drug addicts would eventually commit crimes to sustain their addiction as not all of them could be put in jail or rehabilitation at the same time. Who ever thought there's a simple solution to the complex problem of dealing with drug addicts? * Duterte said the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) put the number of drug addicts in the country at three million. But who will determine whether a drug addict can still be rehabilitated or not? And what would be the manner of execution? Would it be by public hanging? * Most of the drug rehabilitation centers across the nation would be closed. Some will remain open as some drug addicts may yet qualify for rehabilitation. But the funeral parlor business would surely flourish and embalming will become one of the vocational courses Tesda will offer. Can you imagine three million future cadavers? * President Duterte apparently has seen a vision of his nation in the future teeming with drug addicts and the crimes they'd commit. In his speech in a thanksgiving party in Cebu on Saturday, he said, "Karon makita nako nga mga bata one year old, 12 years old gipang- rape ug ipanglabay. Unsa mang klaseng kinabuhi ang ibilin nako sa inyo? Ang ako ba may apo ko, masiguro ba pud nako nga dili na ma-adik? Maybe, there would be lesser drug addicts under his three-child policy. * Duterte is set to take his oath of office at noon on Thursday. But the war on drugs has started even before he could sit in Malacanang. The death toll on suspected drug personalities, as of last count, has reached at least 60. Duterte said he already has an explanation if his war against drugs is subjected to scrutiny by the Supreme Court. He said, "Judge, they ask for it. I have long warned them in Cebu to stop using drugs. Now, they still have not stopped. They ask for their own death, not me." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom