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THERE’S OBVIOUSLY big money in the illegal-drug trade, so much so that it has made criminals even out of some members of the police force – a fact that authorities themselves have often acknowledged. And that may be why the Duterte administration has decided to throw money on the table as well in its bid to rid the police of so-called “ninja cops,” even as it promises to deliver cash to police officers and citizens who participate in its war against drugs.

MORE THAN 20 years ago, Davao City was turned into the laboratory for its then Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte’s war against illegal drugs. Now that he is President, Duterte has mounted a reprise of that war across the nation, saying that he is ready to put his honor, life, and presidency on the line for it.

EVEN PEACE and order come with a price tag, and next year ours may cost us P206.57 billion. Yet as hefty as that may look, it actually translates to just six percent of the total proposed P3.35 trillion budget for 2017. That share of the budget pie is also pretty much what the public order and safety sector has been getting in the last few years.

HE RANTS and rails against the drug menace nearly every day, and sometimes, morning, noon, and night time, but always only in press conferences of public events.