Avoidable delays in the procurement of goods and services; the election calendar revised four times; wasteful spending on machines that conked out or were not used; massive undervoting for party-list groups. The May 2019 elections: A messy affair, not fault-free at all.

THE LAWS and official documents abound with terms and concepts that are sometimes easy and clear, but often vague and difficult, to fathom. But it is by their letter and intent that the virulent war on drugs of the Duterte administration must be implemented by the authorities, and must be understood by the citizens.

THEY ARE supposed to be officers of the law, their protocols strict and specific on what they can and cannot do, and how they must do things. But the Philippine National Police, the lead force in the virulent war on drugs of the Duterte administration, must live and lead by their own rules, and the laws they have sworn to respect and defend. Get to know what they mean when they say or cite some things.