It takes a community to address the problem of illegal drug use. Photo by Bernard Testa, InterAksyon.com.
I was deeply upset listening to the report on the radio. The reporter noted that “due to the high proliferation of shabu, children as old as five years old have been observed to have access to and abusing it. “Gumagamit na rin sila, maski limang taong gulang pa lamang.”
Worse, access to the drug comes from immediate relatives who push the sale of the drug to support their own drug abuse. Horrifying is the rationale of the immediate relatives to justify the continued drug pushing and abuse: “Wala na akong magagawa. Alam ko namang kasalanan ko, pero anong gagawin ko?”
PDEA explains the high proliferation due to “market flooding” and market preference due to rock bottom prices. It is currently the drug of choice because it is cheap and everyone is encouraged to “push” as it is made available by “tingi.” Yes, it is now peddled without discretion.
Given all my years of doing addiction therapy in a clinical setting and having studied and applied the available philosophies and modalities in the treatment of addiction, allow me to oversimplify my observations and share them with you.
Drug abuse and addiction IS a plague.
It starts as a plague to the family. But the Filipino sense of “kahihiyan” often gets in the way of seeking professional help.
“Kahihiyan” demands that the family isolate themselves and grapple with the situation alone. This family tendency of isolating themselves in troubled situations is referred to as “centripetal” in family dynamics. “Nagsasara” or “tayo-tayo” are descriptors closer to the Filipino heart.
Since the family is not equipped to deal with the situation, the situation is prolonged and is eventually shoved into the family closet as a dark secret (along with abuse, rape and incestuous acts). Until, of course, the situation becomes scandalous—then it will be perceived as a problem.
We have laws that penalize the possession of and criminalize the trafficking of illegal drugs. It includes the Comprehensive Drugs Act, one enacted as R.A. 6425 in 1972 and revised as R.A. 9165 in 2002. The report I heard over the radio questions the effectiveness of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of this law as well as the duty and sincerity by which this law is implemented.
This law benefits families courageous enough to address their situation head-on—not because the implementation of the law was effective. Its mere presence triggered these families’ moral and ethical values into action. They feared the implications of the law and chose to seek professional help to address and put a stop to the criminalized acts of drug pushing and abuse as a family.
Yet, there are those bold enough to perceive that they are above this law. A good example is the video that went viral recently where a call for help from the barangay was responded to by law enforcers. The apprehension of the accused was interrupted by somebody who claimed to be the aunt of the accused and a member of the Napolcom.
She used her Napolcom position and knowledge of the law to interfere with the arrest, thus effectively turning the tables around: “Nasaan ang I.D ninyo. Nasaan ang badge niyo?” “Illegal itong ginagawa ninyo, ah!”
At the same time, the woman used the same line of questioning to bully the law enforcers- “Hello, Colonel. Nang ha-harass dito ang mga tao mo. Oo, pinapatulan dito iyong isang addict na opisyal ng barangay. Wala nang ginawa kung di guluhin ang pamangkin ko dito, eh.”
while at the same timem she was also insinuating that the complainant is an addict: “Oo, pinapatulan dito iyong isang addict na opisyal ng barangay.” Completely turning the tables around from law enforcer to criminal and from complainant to accused. If not for the power of Netizens who commented on the incident, I could only guess how this incident will end.
Then there are those who hide behind laws protecting “human rights.” Legalese, with its loopholes, the hulidap buy-bust operations, government-run rehabilitation facilities that “warehouse” drug pushers and drug abusers from criminal liability serve as protectors of their “human rights.” It allows criminals the access to continue with their operations and to plague families with their drugs.
Are the manufacturers and traffickers of illegal drugs still human in their thoughts and actions?
Too much of the written law negated by improperly trained law enforcers, negated by the improper use of government budgets for infrastructure and training, negated by those uncommitted to duty, takes away the spirit of the law as well as the common sense of a nation.
How about you? Tell me what you think.
• Roderick E. Marfil, M.A., RGC, PDFM, is a Family Therapist and Intuitive Healing Coach. He is available by appointment at the RCW Foundation in Varsity Hills, Quezon City, (+632) 436-0710 and (+632) 426-6832.
