Illegal drugs, an election issue

THE proliferation of the illegal drug trade in Pangasinan is at its highest level. This can be discerned from the intensified campaign of the Pangasinan Police Provincial Office that already netted a number of top drug personalities.

Why has it come to this? The answer is plain to see – many of our local officials, from the barangay kapitans to the mayors and congressmen, have turned a blind eye in return for a regular deposit to their ATM accounts.

Worse, as more of their constituents fall prey to the drug peddlers, our corrupt officials continue to be in a denial mode, mouthing motherhood statements about their commitment to combat illegal drugs. The time has come to make them account by checking on the incumbents’ records and performance.

The incumbents and the wannabes must be asked squarely by their constituents how they plan to help in the campaign vs. drug syndicates operating in their communities and make them own to it if they win.

Candidates, whether for town or congressional posts, who don’t and cannot offer viable plans of action contra illegal drugs should be held suspect. Incumbents known to be protective of suspected drug lords should be exposed outright during the campaign period.

The political issue about Illegal drugs is for the future and welfare of today’s and future generations.

 

The VP debate

NEXT to the President of the Philippines, the country’s most important person would be the vice president.  Even as we derisively call him a “spare tire,” the forceful fact is he is just a breadth away from Malacanang.  It is this screaming reality that we should all seriously embrace.  Thus, even before the third and final presidential debate is held at UPang on April 24, the 6 VP hopefuls led by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano will take center stage in their own debate on April 10 at the University of Santo Tomas.

To be aired live on CNN 9 starting at 5 p.m., the debate will feature Mr. Cayetano against rivals Ms. Robredo and Messrs. Escudero, Trillanes, Marcos and Honasan in what could either spell defeat or victory for the candidates in the first ever debate among VP hopefuls.  Like the 3 presidential debates, the lone VP debate is also a Comelec project.  For this, the Comelec deserves applause, if only to appease its already much-maligned manner of running its affairs in the run-up to the May 9 polls.

With the VP debate, the nation is afforded the luxury of critically analyzing who would be the best replacement in case something bad happened to the President.

(For your comments and reactions, please email to: punch.sunday@gmail.com)

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