Duterte's #WarOnDrugs Remains to be a Failure Unless He Adds a Rehab Component

Wazzup Pilipinas!

"Imagine our country without a presumption of innocence, to imagine our country that once you're named, you are guilty. That's exactly the situation now."

#WarOnDrugs should really be a war on drugs and not a war on humanity. Instead, the drug war has dehumanized people.

Malacañang claims that the government is winning the war against illegal drugs. The war on drugs was said to have widespread support, with President Rody Duterte enjoying a 91% approval rating at the end of July, largely due to his hard-line position.

Is it really? Go ahead, keep telling that to yourselves!

The war on drugs has become a polarizing affair that is dividing a nation weary of criminal rampancy. At one end are the police trying to effect much-needed change while at the opposite side are legislators affirming the rule of law.

However, no matter how loudly I say that the war on drugs is a failure, my comments will not signal any substantial change since the government is never listening. The PNP Chief, Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, himself has issued an order to the police that they should kill anybody resisting arrest and worry about human rights violations later. There have been many reports that people get killed even if they surrendered peacefully. The statements of the police are also mostly seen unbelievable and illogical.

What is wrong with Duterte's War on Drugs? It does not have a Rehab component.

We should also bring in methods against this madness by learning from the experience of other countries. Brute force is never the answer.

It only aims to purge the suspected drug users and pushers, and never to rehabilitate them. The crackdown is absolutely flawed and done to make up the numbers so that people will think the Duterte administration is indeed successful. It has created suffering on an unimaginable scale, with no discernible benefit.

"My order is shoot to kill you. I don't care about human rights" - Duterte

The death toll has reached nightmare proportions. People are being killed without going through the due process of law. This is not really a battle between drug cartels and government forces, rather a purging of the defenseless poor who, unlike their affluent counterparts, have no financial sources to be blackmailed by the government.

Death squads, prisons full to bursting – and a leader who wants citizens to kill drug dealers to “make his day.”

This is how the new President of the Philippines has been waging the “war on drugs.”

“Do your duty, and if in the process you kill 1,000 persons because you were doing your duty, I will protect you.” - Duterte

It's time to admit that the war on drugs was merely invented to excuse systemic discrimination, incarceration and police intervention. The Philippines' war on drugs has gone out of hand! The president himself is motivating the police to kill even if they violate human rights and due process of law.

Do we easily give up on humanity by thinking it is pointless to even try to turn them back into responsible and decent members of the society?

How could we think that low?

I believe man is inherently good, and those who are misguided are merely victims of circumstances. Everyone could still change for the better if given the proper means to improve themselves. We should never lose hope on our fellow men.

"Let's investigate the entire drug problem. Let it be more systematic, not personality oriented." After all, it should be a war on drugs and not a war on its users.

Why are the police are under “shoot-to-kill” orders for drug suspects? Have we totally approved on scrapping the due process of law? Is the justice system really that bad that the President refuses to subject the suspects through it in fear of just having the suspects released?

"Drug-related killings are slowly becoming the terrifying norm. As we sleep, amid the elation and anger, cheers and protests, the blood spill continues."

The Duterte administration's war on drugs has earned critical views from the international media. It has done more harm than good. Hundreds of people continue to be arrested, and killed, for drug offenses, alarming everyone that this government is never going to give any suspect the due process of law.

Are we expecting more people killed in the next days? This will be a nightmarish 6 years under the Duterte administration.

#NoPlaceForHate Campaign Should Rule on Social Media

Wazzup Pilipinas!

"We reserve the right to create a safe space where our readers may speak freely AND respectfully. For a constructive conversation among all kinds of individuals, a tolerance of others' opinions must always go with the courage to speak your mind.

You may curse and insult in your own pocket of the web, but at Rappler, we do not condone this, and we encourage a conversation that moves the topic forward.

Pag-aaari po namin ang aming Facebook page and we have the right to instill particular rules in our comments section. This is not unusual. Many pages have comment moderators with guidelines, and this is no different." - Rappler

#NoPlaceforHate was launched by Rappler as a means to empower our readers and make Rappler's comments sections engaging and progressive again. This move is to show that there is a way of criticizing that does not involve hate speech or death threats.

There's nothing wrong with expressing what you feel. What's unacceptable is when you attack other people and make baseless allegations that contribute nothing to the discussion.

Examples of Unacceptable Hate:

1. Name-calling--mean-spirited or disparaging words directed at a person, organization or group of people.
2. Aspersion--mean-spirited or disparaging words directed at an idea, plan, policy, or behavior.
3. Lying--stating or implying that an idea, plan or policy was disingenuous.
4. Vulgarity--using profanity or language that would not be considered proper in professional discourse.
5. Pejorative for speech--disparaging remark about the way in which a person communicates.

All of the commentators in social media cannot deny that at one point in our lives, we have made a disrespectful statement. Don't be a bigot or hypocrite to deny it. People are too polarized, hate will continue because some agendas are so apparent. Rappler is a news organization and not a PR firm. Comments are all welcome provided, as stated, all should adhere to moderations policy.

While I'm a free speech absolutist, I would have to agree with Rappler's decision. In any case, these folks have a host of other outlets. Spam from troll bots limits the freedom of expression of actual readers.
Communication can be difficult at times, sometimes what we say isn't always taken how we imagined it would be taken. Sometimes, our words can be perceived in one way, and sometimes, they can be perceived in another.

Can't we all just resort to a civilized and kind discussion? 

Stripping your right of expressing through hate doesn't mean stripping your freedom of expressions, this is the way of educating you people which you also learned from school. To become civilized.

Your freedom ends where another else's begins. In all things that you do, apply the principle of universality. Ergo, your freedom of speech ends when it starts to harass and cause harm to another.

How can you have a civilized conversation if some people only want to post slurs and retarded things. And in the end when that person lose to an argument he/she will attack the persons identity and sometimes the family.

Respect begets respect but the owner of the house defines the rule of the house. You're free to rant in your own living room. It's yours. But if you do it in someone else's living room, you can expect to be kicked out if you don't behave. That's basic decency.

If you don't like the rules, you can simply leave the page, unfollow it, or go and make your own. Their space, their rules.

If you can't share your thoughts without resorting to abuse, they're not worth sharing in the marketplace of ideas.

People should not be "moralized" by the media. Our values are inherent. To even say that you choose who to respect is appalling. You respect EVERYONE regardless of any behavior, character, gender, etc.

I think the positive thing about this policy is that commenters are assured they can freely express their objective opinions without the risks of getting bullied by anonymous trolls who resort to personal tirades that even go as far as creating a meme out of their profile photos.

This is to remind us to be more discerning of the proper forum for meaningful interactions and civil discourse in our use of the democratic space available to us, and to learn to discard the superfluity of untamed and uncivil comments. 

Logic will win the day. It's okay to be passionate or fanatic about something or someone but sometimes that blinds us in seeing the actual truth.

Like what our parents used to say, "If you cannot say something nice or something that has been thought out, do not say anything at all."

“I keep hearing ‘with freedom comes responsibility.’ I don’t think people have watched Spider Man. It’s with great power comes great responsibility. With freedom comes the obligation to defend it against any attempt to abridge it in any fashion whatsoever.” - Teddy Locsin Jr.

BPI Deadline Causes Panic Among Its Clients

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Kudos to the media for causing alarm and probable loss of clients for BPI. Were you among those who joined the BPI Madness?

The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has recently announced that there is a deadline for clients to comply with information requirements in on September 30, and not on August 31 as it originally said. BPI corporate communications head Tricia Quiambao clarified that the "deadline should be by the end of September, not August.

But this announcement pertains only to a few clients whom they contacted individually, and not everyone. Their latest announcement is that there is no deadline for everyone else.

Their recent advisory didn’t sit well with many of their customers who took to social media to lash out at the bank. The ir branches were even full the past days because of the panic among BPI clients who had to rush to their respective branches to update their bank information. BPI gave a deadline for clients to update their information before they lose all electronic access to their bank accounts but it was not clear if hey were referring to a few or all of their clients.

"Pursuant to BSP Circular 706, clients are requested to update their information on or before September 30, 2016.

How? 

1. Fill out and sign the Customer Information Sheet (CIS) and Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Form. You can visit your branches or download the forms via BPI Express Online. 2. Present the accomplished form and submit a photocopy of one valid, recent and photo-bearing ID.3. Submit to your nearest branch or send via mail.
If you have updated your client information this year, you may disregard this advisory."

I smell something fishy here. Why all of a sudden do we need to update our personal information? Maybe there is a loophole or exploits within the bank since the other banks have no similar announcement?

The downloaded forms to be printed and then to be presented to the bank totaled four copies and mind you, with colored layouts. It will entail expensive printing costs. Just go to the bank and ask for the forms to be filled out so that we will not shoulder any printing costs.

What about seafarers mam? How will they comply with the requirement?