Comments on: The Long View: Do not enter

By: Ka Ryan

Ka Ryan — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:38:44 +0000

And so the whole charade of democracy begins its vicious and comic cycle. Once more unto the breach dear friends!

By: Carl Cid Inting

Carl Cid Inting — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:15:33 +0000

Drugs are a problem world-wide, even in the more developed countries. In the U.S. and Europe, cocaine and heroin are prime drugs. In the Philippines, just as in the poor ghettos in the U.S., the drug of choice is methamphetamine, otherwise known as shabu, since it is much cheaper than coke or heroin. Shabu and marijuana are the most pervasive drugs in the Philippines. Both are relatively easy to access. As far as we can tell, the drug problem here is no worse than the drug problem in the U.S.

By: ramrod

ramrod — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:39:03 +0000

I don’t believe anyone actualy has a handle on these drug organization/s, we don’t have any accurate picture of how big this really is – which is the way it should be as clandestine businesses go, “when you are strong, feign weakness.” The less people know about them, the better for them…we can only see the impact on our youth…and they really like it when they are underestimated…

By: GLOBAL BALITA » Blog Archive » Do not enter

GLOBAL BALITA » Blog Archive » Do not enter — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:37:59 +0000

[...] http://www.quezon.ph/2010/03/04/the-long-view-do-not-enter/ [...]

By: Carl Cid Inting

Carl Cid Inting — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:17:36 +0000

As far as drug lords are concerned, there doesn’t seem a “capo di tutti capi”, Mafiaspeak for a drug overlord, throughout the country. They’re regionally dispersed, and their power and influence is regional as well. They are a motley crew, to say the least, comprised of military and police officers, Chinese operators and their local counterparts, local officials and an assortment of pushers. Muslims are into it as well, whether separatists or just opportunists, and so are the NPA. Since there’s large money involved, drugs will always attract the scumbags out to make a fast buck.

It’s still a rather helter-skelter operation and doesn’t seem to be as well-organized, systematic and efficient as some people make it out to be. Having said that, it doesn’t mean that it couldn’t evolve into a very efficient, ruthless and pervasive network someday. So far, our crab mentality and our regionalism have prevented a nation-wide cartel from spreading its tentacles nationwide.

By: mlq3

mlq3 — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:05:01 +0000

Mainly the importance of interdiction: raw materials and the creation of temporary labs seems to easy. more people/families would treat help if there was greater education on risks and more importantly, how to seek qualified help and that it won’t be easy. law enforcers have to be less prone to planting evidence and actually catching pushers. community policing if and when the cops gain a semblance of public trust. in certain situations, curfews.

By: SoP

SoP — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:33:05 +0000

While Chinese criminal organizations continue to establish and operate many methamphetamine clandestine laboratories, investigations have revealed that Muslim traffickers, many affiliated with separatist groups, are the main distributors of methamphetamine in the Philippines. Insurgent activity in Mindanao facilitates methamphetamine production, according to DDB and local government sources, thus increasing availability within the Muslim community. There are widespread reports that methamphetamine is produced in laboratories in areas controlled by Muslim rebels, who use profits to fund their operations. There is also anecdotal evidence that rebel fighters take methamphetamine to combat lack of sleep and inadequate food intake, as well as to enhance aggression and withstand pain. Law enforcement investigations revealed that the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are directly involved in the smuggling, protection of methamphetamine production, and transportation of illegal drugs to other parts of the country and across Southeast Asia. The Philippines is a source of methamphetamine exported to Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, and in relatively small quantities to the U.S. (including Guam and Saipan).

By: SoP

SoP — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:30:59 +0000

I don’t know why Alex Magno, de Venecia, or you Manolo should be overly concerned or over emphasize the influence of drug lords in the elections. Philippine drug lords don’t have much money compared to jueteng lords. The drug lords cater mostly to local addicts, unlike, say, Mexican cartels or Chinese drug lords, who pack their dollar bills in pallets and containers (no exaggeration), earned from the North American, Asian and European markets. Sure we are in the top three of per capita use of shabu and many middle class Filipinos toke up on it, but I don’t see the margins and revenues that big for drug lords to be compared to Escobar yet or even the drug lord equivalent of Bong Pineda. Most drug lords in Pinas are based in Mindanao, who use their profits to fund terrorist activities or finance other illicit activities (robberies, kidnappings) to buy arms, so why would they care about the outcome of elections? These people are anti government, so they’re not gonna fund candidates of influence elections on a national level.

By: Carl Cid Inting

Carl Cid Inting — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:17:03 +0000

The combination of weak institutions and poverty will only undermine our social development. It has been a slow, corrosive deterioration from way back as far as I can remember. And it will only get worse, because we never did anything about it. Even when we’ve had opportunities in the past.

By: SoP

SoP — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:44:08 +0000

That may be true. Alcohol kills and injures more people (through alcohol fueled violence or ill health effects) than shabu. It’s just that the deaths and crimes from shabu are more sensational (shabu fuelled gang rapes and massacres), but still a drop in a bucket compared to alcohol related violence.

I’ve called for legalization of shabu before, but most reaction I get is shock and indignation. It’s probably because people have bad experience with shabu addicts, who are more dangerous than drunks or marijuana addicts.