Duterte decided to ignore experts – here’s the result

Duterte has declared that “we cannot stop China” – something a head of state who knows his job should never do. There’s such a thing as diplomacy, but President Duterte seems ignorant of that process.
The nation should be grateful that there are experts like Carpio weighing in on West Philippine Sea issues. Do we also have experts in the drug problem? We badly need them.
 “Drugs are destroying my country,” Duterte has said over and over again, yet there is scant evidence he has studied the problem with any degree of thoroughness. He once remarked that addicts were “raping children and grandmothers”. But how often has that actually happened? No matter, if it makes headlines and can be exploited by a national leader to drive his populist “project”. 
It seems one man’s fundamental ignorance and simplistic ways have placed us in a very deep, dark pit.
If there are millions of drug addicts in our midst, how much destruction have they done to people other than themselves? Could they in fact be the main victims of this trade? Experts could likely determine how many murders and rapes are attributable to drug use, and what could be done to prevent them. Then we could begin to have clarity and well thought-out policies.
Lately Duterte has been saying that his order to the police was “only to arrest them [drug suspects]. If they don’t want to be arrested and fight back, and you think you will die, shoot the idiot.” He has said this so many times in the past couple of months. Is he beginning to cover his back? Maybe he has come to realise finally (he seems quite slow sometimes) that after his term in office, there will be hell to pay.
Atis Altamirano
Philippine Daily Inquirer (ANN)