Pubdate: Mon, 18 Jul 2016
Source: Philippine Star (Philippines)
Copyright: PhilSTAR Daily Inc. 2016
Contact:  http://www.philstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/622
Author: Ana Marie Pamintuan

VIP SUSPECTS

"I will execute you," Dirty Rody warned suspected drug trafficker 
Peter Lim last Friday in Davao City. "I will finish you off."

As of yesterday, Lim - one of some 400 Peter Lims in Cebu where he 
lives and of about 4,000 in the Philippines, according to Bureau of 
Immigration files - had not yet been "finished off."

His face - with "drug lord" smeared all over it - is now known all 
over the Philippines. But he got an audience with the President of 
the Republic, and even managed to express support for The Punisher's 
take-no-prisoners anti-narcotics campaign.

The campaign is increasingly looking like a take-no-prisoners war 
only when it comes to poor suspects, the hampaslupa and adik-adik 
whose shanties are not covered by constitutional guarantees on 
privacy and the presumption of innocence.

Perhaps the wrong Peter Lim met with the President, and one day there 
will be another Peter Lim who will turn up dead in the street with a 
cardboard sign hanging from his neck, warning, "drug pusher ako, wag 
tularan" - here lies a drug pusher who must not be emulated.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Administration (PDEA) director Isidro 
Lapena said Lim was the same Peter Lim in the rogues' gallery of the 
most notorious drug traffickers in the country. Lim also admitted 
that he had been investigated on drug charges in the past. So why is 
he at large? In this season of Oplan Tokhang, why is he even still alive?

Duterte had tagged Peter Lim, a.k.a. Jaguar, as one of the top three 
drug dealers allegedly being protected by the five narco-generals the 
President had publicly identified. Lim, Duterte said, was believed to 
be abroad. If Jaguar has friends in the Philippines, they should tell 
him that "the moment he lands at the NAIA, he will die," Duterte said.

So what happened? Peter Lim didn't land at the NAIA; he had been 
hiding in plain sight. In fact according to some reports, Peter Lim - 
the guy in the rogues' gallery, the same guy who turned up at 11 p.m. 
last Friday at the PDEA regional office in Davao - and his brother 
Wellington Lim were campaign supporters of Duterte in the presidential race.

Peter Lim was allegedly at Duterte's victory party in Cebu, where the 
presence of an epal suspected to have links with smugglers and drug 
dealers also raised eyebrows. You can't fault Duterte for this; 
candidates generally don't choose supporters, and a winner does not 
screen guests to a victory party he did not organize.

But it's obvious that Peter Lim is a well-connected VIP who can 
secure a meeting with an extremely busy President. Maybe Lim isn't 
Jaguar? If he is, Duterte should take a close look at whoever was 
Lim's padrino in securing that audience.

As some journalists commented, "Mabuti pa yung drug trafficker, 
hinaharap; yung media, banned forever." Instead of the mass execution 
of the small fry - about five to six drug suspects killed daily - 
shouldn't there be greater zeal in going after the big fish in the 
drug trade? Cut off the head, and the rest of the body goes.

"Neutralize" the cartel or gang leaders, with their coddlers in 
government thrown in; put their civilian lieutenants behind bars and 
the users in rehab. There's a rogue's gallery so the top drug dealers 
are known. I doubt if Pinoys will shed tears if notorious traffickers 
and their coddlers in law enforcement and local government are neutralized.

The traffickers are the orchestra conductors. They supervise the 
illegal trade; they pick the police officers, mayors, judges and 
other officials who are vulnerable to corruption. The ranking cops 
recruit underlings and barangay personnel who can handle the 
nitty-gritty of getting the drugs into the streets. The underlings 
recruit the civilians - among them the hampaslupa including minors 
who are currently immune from arrest and prosecution - to serve as 
the neighborhood and school pushers. How do you think the cops know 
which doors to rap on as part of Oplan Katok and Tokhang?

So why are the hampaslupa the ones suffering the brunt of the 
executions? The wrong end of the pyramid is being destroyed. And if 
you believe the daily killings are the result of legitimate police 
encounters rather than summary executions, you might be interested in 
a bridge over the Pasig I've been trying to sell. Like economic 
growth, the war on illegal drugs should also be inclusive.

People are wondering if Oplan Tokhang - the police campaign of 
knocking on the homes of drug suspects and warning them to come out 
and mend their ways - will also reach exclusive gated villages where 
major shabu manufacturers and dealers of Ecstasy and other party 
drugs live in mansions surrounded by high walls. These villages are 
also home to the wealthy kids who pop the party drugs as if these were candy.

The demand for substances that alter the mind and mood will always be 
there. It's up to governments to stop the supply.

I know a number of people who are happy that their neighborhood 
pushers have been eliminated. But drying up the supply would be 
faster if lawmen went directly to the source - the manufacturers of 
shabu, the smugglers and their coddlers, the large-scale distributors 
and the persons in authority who protect them and benefit immensely 
from the drug trade.

If the drug trail is effectively buried under layers of deniability, 
why not look into the unexplained wealth of notorious narco 
traffickers? Such a probe can bypass their protectors in law 
enforcement and local governments.

As an additional weapon in his war on drugs, corruption and other 
crimes, President Duterte can push legislation against racketeering - 
something that has been consistently resisted by all the racketeers 
in every Congress.

Among the racketeering offenses should be the various ways of 
laundering drug money to win protection, such as donating funds and 
equipment to law enforcement agencies, and contributing to political 
parties and election campaigns.

It would be ironic if part of the funds used as reward money for 
killing or capturing penny-ante drug suspects came from 
well-connected drug bosses.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom