BACOLOD CITY – Go for big targets, freeze their bank accounts, and fix the justice system.
These measures, according to human rights lawyer Chel Diokno, are the most effective way to solve the drug problem in the country.
Diokno was in Bacolod for the Jose W. Diokno lecture series held at the MM Audi B of the University of St. La Salle.
The lawyer, who ran for senator but lost last elections, said a strong justice system would in the long run be more effective in netting those involved in drug syndicates.
“If government is really serious, it should go after drug lords, target the syndicates,” he said.
The big fish always tend to escape the dragnet mainly because the target of police operations — mostly in tokhang ops gone awry — are the poor.
But, Diokno said, that kind of system would not work with the drug lords.
What should be done instead is to target the masterminds, use all powers to mobilize the Anti-Money Laundering Council, check suspicious accounts and freeze them, Diokno said.
The justice system should be fixed too, he said.
“People are taking advantage of a weak justice system,” he said.
But the problem is, those in power do not want real justice because with justice comes accountability and they do not want that, Diokno said.
Meanwhile, Diokno exhorted the youth to never stop fighting for what is right as they, more than any generation, have the power and means to change the future.
He also called on the youth to fight for something larger than themselves.
“There’s nothing wrong with being an activist — you can fight for the environment, human rights, anything you want… You have never truly lived unless you have fought for something larger than yourself,” he added.
