IT TAKES NO ROCKET SCIENTIST to conclude that the nefarious drug menace cannot possibly  thrive in a community without the protection- or at least the blind  eye – of the public officials and their appointed local police.

That is the reason why President Rody “I Hate Drugs” Duterte named 159 judges, public officials and cops on the drug syndicate  take last August 7. A second batch of more of the same will be released shortly.

Rather than speculate, people should wait for the president to speak. An earlier Juan de la Cruz “matrix” that made the rounds in social media-  was considered ” laughable” as it even included Maribojoc, a a town under  the  strict control of Cabinet Secretary Leoncio “Jun” Evasco who hates drugs as much as his boss. That inclusion alone shattered the matrix’ credibility.

To the guilty judges, officials and cops, the coming  “Batch 2 Report” hangs like a Damocles sword over their dark souls; for the innocent that is  just a new version of the “bible of truth”.

Make no mistake about it- it is really about time some president of this nation of 100 million- stakes his life to crush the drug monster-before the monster crushes the nation.

Duterte thinks even that the October 31 barangay and SK polls should be postponed because the tentacles of evil can still control the levers of power in the smallest  but most crucial political unit (barangay) and pervert the nation at its roots. Consider these facts.

Seventy percent of crimes in this country is drug-related. This is not a figure of speech nor a figment of the imagination, Today, drug-related prisoners dominate the major jails here: BDJ (63%), city jail (72%), Ubay (69%), Talibon (67%) and Carmen (65%).

The PDEA – the Philipppine Drug Enforcement Agency- documented   that 92% of Metro Manila barangays are drug-influenced and one out  of every five barangays nation-wide is similarly situated. More facts?

In Bohol, the drug operations bagged 7 deaths, 172 arrests and 31,000 surrenderees. Nationwide, 650,000 addicts and 50,000 pushers have surrendered.  Earlier reports indicated there are at least  3.5 million  Filipino addicts making the previous above figures a “partial list”, merciful Lord.

In his recent senate appearance,  PNP chief General “Bato” who is as fatalistic as his commander, disclosed that  close to 2,000 people  (in less than 2 months) have been annihilated : 712 by the police and some 1,067 by unknown vigilantes.

Digong ” The Punisher” vowed he will not stop until the last “drug pusher and drug lord” is out of the nation’s streets.  Expect , then, for blood to pour some more- way beyond the so-called “Ghost Months”.

But the above  describe  the extent of the  bites the “dracula” of drugs have sunken deepest  into the neck of the nation at large. The West African, Mexican, Chinese, North Korean and Taiwanese drug syndicates are here.

The nation is no longer just a “mere transhipment” of drugs- it is  now a major market of 3.5 million addicts or more- the poor partaking of shabu; the rich of Ecstasy tablets.

Because Duterte has started the vicious campaign in blood , he will have to finish it or he will be finished by it. Duterte, at a ripe age of  71, is no longer afraid of death; therein lies the core of his willpower.

But not everyone is pleased with his gory campaign. A “Radyo Merkado” survey over sister station dyRD  showed  a slight majority- this early- of 57%  who rue against the manner the drug battle has been waged-;43% concur.

Most of the victims, they say,  are reportedly  just “the small fish”-pushers and users or combination thereof but the giant  “barracudas” are all  scot- free. They question, for instance- why a  Peter Lim -neighbor Cebu’s Big One was able to leave the country with his family to Hongkong aboard a private jet. One must be insane to expect him to come back,

The other Big Ones- the Espinosas of Leyte; the bigger evil- the son Espinosa is nowhere to be found and the  lesser evil (the father)  is back as town mayor. Really?After the drug bust of his home ,death of his bodyguards and a cache of powerful guns found his residence?

The people are asking and -genuinely concerned, Mr President.

Killing the lieutenants (the tentacles)  will not crush the octopus unless the government crushes its head.  The head can always grow  (appoint) new tentacles to replace the pulverized ones.

The drug-lord kingpins are indeed hard to pin down, true –  for they hardly have drugs in their possession. They direct deliveries via remote control and receive payment from laundered money which appear legitimate business transactions.

In his exasperation, General “Bato”  recently pleaded before the pushers and users to “dump gasoline and burn the houses of their drug lords” because they (drug lords)  are just using them for their financial interest but  unto their fatal perdition.

That is why simultaneous to the decapitating of the drug lords’ heads- should be the conviction of the two members of the triad- which made them survive this market in the first place- their protector politicians and police officers.

Reportedly, lifestyle checks and documentation have been completed  on the five so-called “Narco Generals”; the retired ones Garbo and Pagdilao by government prosecutors and the current ones : Diaz,Loot and Tinio by the Napolcom-under the terms of the latter’s charter.

Next- the  (listed)public officials so implicated and found guilty -must suffer the fullest extent of the law and be suspended from their positions while facing trial.

“Narco-Politics”, ladies and gentlemen,  is the name of that evil apparatus that has made the Drug Monster to transform even now- per the president- already into a living  “national security risk”.

A study showed that local LGUs under the control of drug influence usually throw their support to national leaders for the latter to get elected. Once elected, such national officials , in turn, protect these LGUs operations by controlling the PNP hierarchy.

The PNP hierarchy will  then appoint local police officers who will be “friendly forces” to the drug cartel and everyone is happy in this whimsical  merry go round.

This confluence of “scratch my back, I will scratch yours” syndication  is, therefore, to say the least- makes the anti drug operations  a complicated ,complex problem.

The multi-pronged attack will not be easy.

But while we appreciate its grave difficulty – we also do not condone summary executions and extra judicial killings.  There is always a right way to do the right things. It is always bad to do the right thing the wrong way.

But we do realize the gravity of the situation. The Drug Monster grew out like a genie from its evil bottle back in 2000. Unfortunately, it has been allowed to grow into a bully monster up to now  by our very own institutions.  Chief among them- by narco-politics and a corrupted police force.

The time for reckoning is now; tomorrow could be a day late.

For comments: email to dejarescobingo@yahoo.com or bohol-rd@mozcom.com