3 key points in defense of Duterte's "war on drugs"

After watching Senator Alan Peter Cayetano’s interview with Christiane Amanpour on CNN, here are some suggestions to the Duterte government on how to communicate better about the war on the drugs.

The key is to focus on just three points. What are these three points?

POINT 1: Many of the killings are due to the drug lords cleansing their ranks.

– The drug lords and the crooked police who worked for them in the past are killing off their pushers before they can surrender and confess what they know.

– Of all the people who would want to capture these pushers alive, it is the Duterte administration, because these pushers have a lot of intel on drug networks. They are useless to the Duterte government if they are dead.

– The drug lords and crooked police are framing the legitimate police for the deaths of the pushers to discredit the anti-drug campaign.

POINT 2: Average daily killings are actually lower now under Duterte compared to the previous administration.

– Statistics from the last ten years prove this. Statistics also show that the number of casualties in police operations is very small as a percentage compared to the number of surrenderees.

– Groups connected to the drug lords—including the drug lord protectors in high government positions—are distorting the number of killings in order to discredit the anti-drug campaign.

– Central to this disinformation campaign is the move to label every death an “extra-judicial killing” even those that have nothing to do with the anti-drug campaign. The head of the Commission on Human Rights, Chito Gascon, a loyalist and appointee of the previous administration that coddled the drug lords, seems to be a participant in this disinformation campaign.

POINT 3: Leila de Lima is a tainted source.

– During Leila de Lima’s term as secretary of the Department of Justice in the previous administration, the Bilibid national penitentiary, which was under her supervision, became the number one source of shabu (meth) in the Philippines.

– It was also during De Lima’s term as DOJ secretary that the drug lords at Bilibid were able to turn their jail cells into luxury suites and do whatever they wanted, including hold lavish parties and concerts. She even attended their parties, and there are videos and pictures to prove this.

– Leila de Lima had an intimate relationship with her driver whom witnesses have claimed was the fixer/middleman between the Bilibid drug lords and the prison guards and DOJ officials who accepted bribes so the drug lords could have free reign at the prison.

Important tip shared by a friend who’s a pro: Stick to three points, and don’t let the interviewer control you. No matter what the interviewer asks, answer in a way that brings the discussion back to your three points. Resist the temptation to keep elaborating once you’ve made your point so the message is not drowned out by the details.

I applaud Senator Alan Peter Cayetano for his vigorous defense of the honor of our country, our police, and our President in front of the international media. Although he seemed a bit nervous, his passion and sincerity came across in the CNN interview. Meanwhile, De Lima was speaking like a stoned zombie who was obviously more interested in defending herself rather than the victims she was claiming to represent.

Leila de Lima proved one thing in that CNN interview: She will utter whatever lie is necessary—even lies that jeopardize the reputation of our country—to save herself. After watching that interview, it is clear there is no way De Lima will resign from the Senate or hang herself, as has been suggested. There is no way she will do that, because you cannot shame the shameless.

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