LAW & ORDER: Death of Partygoers – Organized lack of concern?
From the lawmakers to the lawbreakers, it is a well-known fact that the Filipino drug problem has been here since times immemorial with a perennial tendency to become more and more critical with each passing day, week or year. The socio-economic situation being so bad, it is an acknowledged given that the poor unemployed will have to search for a quick way to make a buck since sustenance is a very real problem.
While the poor unemployed have no other easier source of livelihood that running drugs, the other half of the populace, who is looking for a better community scene, also have very restricted choices available to them.
So, they also adopted the only option out of the country’s predicament with regards to drugs; they opted to vote for a man who could deliver them from the poison called drugs. That was because, to their knowledge, there was no other man who was even remotely capable of tasking this massive bull by the horns.
With no other solution in sight, they jumped on the bandwagon (or, chariot if you wish to call it) which was being ridden by the foul-mouthed wonder Rodrigo Duterte who was called the punisher by the common man who idolized him from the bottom of their hearts.
And, he was the only one who had the required qualifications and whose capabilities were on record to show that he, if anyone could be, was the right choice for the craving masses that were fed up of the lawlessness, the crime and the drug running.
And, not only did Duterte possess the track record, he had also dared to promise that, if elected to the post of the President of the Republic of Philippines, he would ensure that the criminal elements would be controlled or eradicated within a period of three to six months.
Other candidates not only criticized this statement of his, they declared that this was not possible.
And then, even as people like me were quite upbeat about the fate that the drug runners and criminal gangs were heading for, there occurred an incident which was an eye opener for all the optimists who were waiting to just wipe the slate clean of criminal activities and those that were committing them.
On May 21st there was a huge crowd in attendance at the Close-up Forever Summer Concert that was conducted in an open-air arena at the Mall of Asia and the drug culture of the Filipino people came to the fore in a very big way; the death of five people due to excessive consumption of drugs was a rude jolt which reminded the general public that, even in the most public events, the most strictly regulated substances were freely available.
There was also an American among the five dead and all the five were found scattered at different points in the concert grounds; when rushed to the hospital, they expired due to what was declared in the posr-mortem reports as cardiac arrests and heart attacks which were attributed to the high temperatures causing heat strokes and resultant dehydration. Two parallel investigations are being conducted by the National Bureau of Investigations and The Philippine National Police.
Excessive Blood pressure, Dehydration and heart attacks were stated to be the causes of the fatalities; knowledgeable people were convinced that it was due to drug overdoses and the combination with high consumption of alcohol was probably the reason for their death.
However, the organizers of the concert were of the opinion that they had made very strict arrangements to ensure that the event was conducted in a safe manner. Moreover, while about 70 cops were in attendance at the venue, there was a marked absence of these policemen at the place where the most action was taking place; this was reported by the eye witnesses. Furthermore, the practice of checking the IDs of the party-goers was conspicuously dispensed with.
Another prominent and glaring error was that the organizers never gave identification any thought though they were noting down the particulars of all youngsters.
These glaring mistakes were enough to permit underage minors to sneak in as adults; another glaring discrepancy was that only bags were being checked making it fairly easy to smuggle in spiked drinks or drugs on their own person.
As reported by eye witnesses, almost all brands of hard liquor were freely sold and served without any restriction.
The police officials however shirked off their responsibility stating that their understanding with the organizers was that they would only mind the security at the perimeter. This was a clear signal that there might have been an understanding with the drug runners who made hay due to the laxity.
It was also reported that about 15,000 dancers were participating in the party where the drinks were being passed on unhindered.
The investigators are checking out the veracity of reports that the group who lost their lives were partaking of a cocktail of Cialis, Ecstacy and Shabu making it a very potent and explosive combination that is not readily available openly.
Why did the enforcement authorities not consider keeping an eye on the proceedings is anybody’s guess?
At least now that there have been lives lost due to the lack of a proper deterrence and check, the Philippines Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) at least make it a point to look more closely and investigate the happenings of that night and find out the truth.
Where such a large gathering of youngsters was expected for an outdoor event, there should have not been any lethargy on the part of the law and order machinery. Undercover Agents and sniffer dogs should have been deployed in force.
The exact reason for the relaxation of security measures needs to be adequately investigated to find out as to who had given the orders to overlook obvious steps that are part of routine protocol for the security machinery for all such events.
The most glaring aspect of the whole episode which led to a loss of precious lives was that, there was a certain amount of deliberate lack of concern about the way the security concerns were overlooked.
There should at least have been medicos around to act in case of any drug-related mishap or emergency; something is surely amiss. The customary propaganda machinery of the enforcement department should have been doing their duty by warning the party-goers about the potential risks of mixing drugs with alcoholic drinks and other medications while also utilizing loudspeakers to spread the word.
This case of deaths due to the lack of concern of the authorities points to a culture of arrogance and failure to perform their official duties; this cannot be allowed to persist any longer.
It is also known that as many as 93% of the locals in Metro Manila are prey to a culture of drugs while the United Nations World Drug report states that the Filipinos have the highest rate of consumption of Shabu in the entire East Asia which is a deplorable and needs the attention of the incoming President with his record as a punisher.
