Editorial

By December 6, 2015Editorial, News

Our elected officials are accountable

WE maintain that the war vs. illegal drugs should not be considered merely a case for law enforcement. The situation has become so serious that health; social and political issues resulting from the sale and use of the illegal drugs already impact directly on communities and families. Consider these.

The most obvious are health issues that range from impairment of mental faculties, severe loss of weight, unintentional injuries, accidents, and suicidal deaths.

The social issues include breakdown in family ties and of values, rise in juvenile delinquency, increase in rate of school drop-outs, dependency on drugs as alternative to emotional issues, risks of domestic violence, higher rate of commission of heinous crimes marked by inhumane brutality and cost of treatment of rehabilitation,

Political issues involve protection by and corruption of public officials and law enforcers in all levels. The most perilous yet is the laundering of drug revenues as campaign funds for candidates who have pledged official protection.

Surely, our police are not trained to handle, cope and resolve these issues but our elected officials are mandated to address these on a daily basis.

For this reason, our elected officials must be held accountable for the proliferation of illegal drugs in our communities.

 

Uphill battle now

 

GRACE Poe won by 5-4 in the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) insofar as the validity of her 2013 senatorial win was concerned. But in a Comelec division vote this week on her residency status, Poe absorbed a stinging 3-0 blanking.  Each decision merited a Motion for Reconsideration, with the SET verdict going to the Supreme Court for review and the Comelec ruling needing an en banc resolution to either make it conclusive or not.  At least three other similarly situated disqualification cases against Poe remain unresolved.  Again, the material questions hounding Poe’s presidential bid are:  1) Is Poe a natural-born citizen?  2) Has she complied with the 10-year-residency rule to qualify her as a presidential bet?

What were labeled at the start as “laughable” complaints lodged against Poe appear to stand on solid ground.  Thus, for Poe, it’s become an uphill battle now—all because the foundling seems in a hurry to get to the Palace.

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