Nothing can stop them despite the pandemic

“I believe that the war on drugs is a tragically misplaced use of resources-an immoral venture that produces far more suffering than it alleviates.”

—David Harsanyi

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

BASED on the volume of illegal drugs, particularly shabu, confiscated by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the number of personalities arrested most recently, it seems Western Visayas has now become a narco region.

A narco state or narco-economy is a state whose economy is dependent on the trade in illegal drugs. 

We haven’t reached this level in the Philippines hopefully, but we fear the evolution of a “narco region” once all the main tentacles of drug syndicates will not be cut off immediately.

Sadly no big fish has been added in the list in Western Visayas’ campaign against illegal drugs ever since the killings of Boyet “Dragon” Odicta and Richard “Buang” Prevendido. 

Just when we thought trafficking of illegal drugs will suffer a decline because of the pandemic, statistics based on what have been reported in the media these past months, indicated that there were still rampant transactions involving illegal drugs worth millions of pesos.

The perpetrators didn’t fear President Duterte; they didn’t fear the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

 

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As if the fears of many people aren’t enough, there have been simultaneous buy bust operations in Negros and Iloilo, and many of those apprehended were former members of law enforcement or PNP personnel who have gone AWOL (absent without official leave).

It would be extremely difficult for lawmen to solve the problems on illegal drugs if some cops or former cops were involved.

This will make the campaign of the government against illegal drugs become nil if not impossible as the syndicates will not only have protection from corrupt authorities but are also controlled and managed by some of those who are sworn to eradicate the illegal drugs.    

If these illegal transactions have been going on unabated even before the COVID-19 pandemic, we suspect that the Duterte administration will go in 2022 without totally stamping out the illegal drug trade from the system of the Filipinos contrary to the administration’s pre-election campaign battlecry.

 

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THERE are two types of voters in the November 3 Presidential Election  in the Filipino-American community here in the United States: the “Angry and Loud Filipinos (ALF)” and the “Calm and Silent Filipinos (CSF).”

ALF members are those who can’t hide their disappointment that in many major polls, Democratic Party’s Joseph Biden is way ahead of reelectionist President Donald Trump.

ALF members are Trump die-hards; they hate the policies of the Democrats and most of them were married to white Americans. 

When they criticize the Democrats in public, they call the political party as “demon-crats” and sneer at 77-year-old Biden for being a “Jurassic” or already “past his prime” as a politician.

ALF members also hit Biden’s runningmate, Kamala Harris as “a mistress (of a former mayor in California) and therefore a bad choice.”

ALF members also believe that “it is not necessary to wear a face mask in public because the coronavirus is a hoax and President Trump is correct; we trust our president.”

A 68-year old woman rabid ALF, who grew up in Digos in Mindanao, and a dyed-in-the-wool believer of Conspiracy Theory, has been calling fellow Filipinos to “vote for Trump because it was (former President Barrack) Obama who brought the coronavirus in America, and they intend to make us all as fertilizers when we die.” 

 

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Members of the CSF, on the other hand, don’t usually criticize Mr. Trump in public. 

Most of them aren’t married to white husbands or wives. 

They acquired citizenship through other legal means, not by marrying white Americans.

“That’s why we still have a heart for immigrants and those who intend to come to America in the future,” explained one CSF member, a 57-year-old nursing assistant.

CSF members believe that if Biden and Harris will win, “the gates of more opportunities will open for Filipinos and other Asians who will pursue their American dreams in the United States.”

The dreams, CSF members said,  will be stymied “if President Trump and the Republicans will win on November 3.”

CSF members agree that Mr. Trump “didn’t take the coronavirus seriously” blaming him for the rise of the COVID-19 casualties in the United States which have breached 200,000.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pinoys obsessed with US Midterm elections

“Voting is how we participate in a civic society - be it for president, be it for a municipal election. It's the way we teach our children-in school elections-how to be citizens, and the importance of their voice.”
--Loretta Lynch

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Filipinos are very much involved in the US Midterm Elections for the reason that they, too, will march to the polling precincts six months from now to elect their senators, representatives, governors, mayors, and council members in May 2019.
Some of the those who cast their votes in the rainy and windy morning on November 6, 2018 were members of the Filipino community in the state of New York.
Carmen, 67, born in Davao City in the Philippines, said she voted for the Republicans “because I don’t want my benefits to be delayed if the Democrats will win and allow more illegal immigrants to come in.”
Victor, 60, of Nueva Ecija, said: “Of course, I voted for the Democrats because that will benefit a lot of my kababayans. Also I don’t want to lose my healthcare benefits.”
Healthcare is one of the key issues in the midterm polls.
A major Republican victory would likely lead to the final nail in the coffin of the Affordable Care Act otherwise known as "Obamacare", the healthcare law introduced by Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama.
Republicans have so far failed to repeal and replace Obamacare, but Congress and Trump have made changes to it.

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Former Vice President Joe Biden declared in his final pitch a day before the US Midterm Elections: “The very character of our nation is on the ballot on Tuesday. The rest of the world is looking.”
By the time this article comes out, the United States will have a new set of 435 members in the House of Representatives and 35 members in the Senate as the Americans concluded the 2018 US Midterm Elections.
In New York City where I monitored and covered the polls, voters across the state decided on candidates for governor, senator, attorney general, state legislature and 27 seats in the U.S. House.
New York has more than 12 million registered voters with Democrats outnumbering Republicans by more than 2 to 1.
Polls opened at six o’clock in the morning and closed at nine o’clock in the evening.
Unlike in many other states where millions of votes have already been cast as of this writing, New York did not have early voting, though many have mailed in absentee ballots.
Some of the most watched races in today’s midterm elections involved incumbent Republican members of congress fighting an unusual number of Democratic challengers.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a very popular Democrat, was seeking a third term and Republicans and Democrats battled over the makeup of the state’s congressional delegation as the caustic election midterm election campaign reached its climax.

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The 2018 US Midterm Elections on November 6, 2018 was the second elections in the United States that I officially covered as a journalist.
I was also privileged to cover the 2016 US Presidential Elections and was assigned through the approval of the Board of Elections in the City of New York in Brooklyn.
Normally accredited journalists are not allowed to take photos within the poll sites, but with a written permission from the Board of Elections in the City of New York, we were able to observe the poll right inside the precincts, take some photos and interview the voters and poll officials.
The Board of Elections in the City of New York, headed as president by Maria R. Guastella, is equivalent to the Commission of Elections (Comelec) in the Philippines.
It is an administrative body of ten commissioners, two from each borough upon recommendation by both political parties and then appointed by the City Council for a term of four years.
The commissioners appoint a bipartisan staff to oversee the daily activities of its main and five borough offices.
The Board is responsible under New York State Election Law for the following: Voter registration, outreach and processing; Maintain and update voter records; Processing and verification of candidate petitions/documents; Campaign finance disclosures of candidates and campaign committees; Recruiting, training and assigning the various Election Day officers to conduct elections; Operate poll site locations; Maintain, repair, setup and deploy the Election Day operation equipment; Ensure each voter their right to vote at the polls or by absentee ballot; Canvassing and certification of the vote; Voter education, notification and dissemination of election information; and Preparation of maps of various political subdivisions.