Randy David’s nonsensical rants against President Rodrigo Duterte

Randy David comes out swinging at Duterte. It’s his knee jerk reaction to being implicated in #lekneeleaks last week, to which he issued a denial of course. Thing is, his argument is illogical despite his coating his language in the prose of academia.

Cause and effect. While every one of his detractors hits Duterte for his war on drugs and the casualties that come with it, no one, not a single one, has come up with a piece addressing what caused it. David and his ilk reference poverty but again are silent on why, after being in power for the last thirty years, poverty hasn’t decreased but in fact increased even if the economy has been on the upswing.

He refers to his archbishop brother’s drug rehabilitation program. But there is no reference to the fact that there is no viable rehabilitation protocol for methamphetamine addiction because of its chemical nature and the damage it does to the brain itself not to mention other organs in the human body. Other addictions are treatable because of the organic nature of the substance. Alcohol for one. Then there’s cocaine. The President made his remark in the context of the drug problem being an added burden on alleviating the plight of the poor because P1B could’ve been spent on that purpose instead of allocating it for rehabilitation which is an exercise in futility.

The most glaring point which David misses is while they’re busy being critics, not one of them has propounded an alternative solution to the drug menace. For example, how do you build up a case against the narco-politicos if the AMLC is being uncooperative? What of the involvement of high officials of the previous administration in the drug trade?

Surely a person of David’s intelligence and experience as an academic would’ve thought of that particular detail. Yet, they are silent. The most important point missed is their political agenda against the President. Instead of cooperating in solving the problem, they continue to vilify and pillory him in media. There has been no expense spared and as a result, the nation is more divided than ever.

Public intellectuals such as David are supposed to espouse what is right. There is no argument about being a critic of the President when he is in the wrong. But even at this, they have failed miserably for not calling the attention of PeNoy when he and they, were in power. David’s wife Karina, has been in government since the time of Cory. If poverty is the root cause, the end all and the be all of social problems in the country then why is it after thirty years, no headway has been made in addressing poverty?

Duterte inherited this problem. He didn’t cause it. The burden has fallen on him now. He is being relentlessly criticized for his approach. David should write next about an alternative solution. Otherwise, he’s nothing more than a paid hack pushing forward the political agenda of ousting Duterte by turning public opinion against him.

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RG San Luis as posted on Facebook.