I had a good laugh last week, together with my 365 Club buddies at Hotel Intercon, when I read about porno executives in the United States seeking a $5-billion bailout from the government in the wake of the recession.

Leaders of the US porno trade, according to reports, have been complaining about depressed sales in magazines and DVDs. Thus, the leaders of the industry want ?to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of the Americans.?

Santa Banana, this can only happen in the United States which has become a hedonistic society!

***

President Arroyo was so alarmed by the 2008 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes report saying that the Philippines ranked first in Southeast Asia in terms of the number of drug users and abusers. So alarmed, indeed, that the drug menace tops the agenda of today?s Cabinet meeting.

The UN agency said there was a 6-percent prevalence of amphetamine (a drug that gives the user a ?high?) among Filipinos between the ages of 15 and 64. This is far greater than that of Thailand with 0.8 percent, followed by Lao People?s Democratic Republic with 0.7 percent, Cambodia with 0.6 percent and Myanmar and Vietnam each with 0.2 percent.

The report said that from 20,000 drug users in the Philippines in 1972 (I believe it was more than that from my experience as vice president of DARE Foundation in the seventies), the number climbed to 6.7 million in 2004, meaning that one in every 29 Filipinos aged 10 to 44 was on drugs. The report also added that the preferred illegal substances of Filipinos were methamphetamine hydrochloride, popularly called ?shabu,? and marijuana.

While the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency may dispute the number of the UN report, the fact is that the drug menace in upon us, and draconian measures must be taken by government to reduce this menace, or stop it.

My gulay, can you imagine what lives have been wrecked by illegal drugs, and how many families have broken up because of them? The drug menace is a security problem!

***

The concern of government and media as well should not be focused on the ongoing drama involving millions of pesos in the Alabang Boys bribery scandal, not even on the infighting and finger-pointing between the PDEA and the Justice Department on the issue of the boys? release, much less on the drama of brothers and cousins accusing each other?a collateral issue, really. Rather the concern should now be on how to confront the drug menace that?s wrecking havoc on society.

I know where I speak of on drug abuse. In the early ?70s, I became a vice president of DARE Foundation, a rehabilitation center founded by the priest Bob Garon, who as a layman (after he resigned from the priesthood and married), is still working on the rehabilitation of drug abusers and alcoholics.

The drug menace resurfaced in the seventies, taking its toll on the young in exclusive schools of Metro Manila, and among the squatter colonies. The most-frequented abuse was on marijuana then, and in the higher echelons of society, it was cocaine and even heroin, shabu, which is much cheaper.

What makes the drug menace in the Philippines of particular concern is that ?shabu? is now manufactured here, and that the country has in fact become a transshipment point of illegal drugs to the US and even Europe. Santa Banana, that?s something to worry about!

***

But while the government may be able to pursue and apprehend manufacturers and traffickers and collar drug abusers and drug addicts, the real work lies in rehabilitating these users and preparing them for their return to society.

During the ?70s, I recall special courts were created for drug addiction and rehabilitation, with judges known for their competence and integrity presiding. If an apprehended drug abuser was caught and certified for rehabilitation, the judges would then commit them to DARE Foundation. After the abuser was rehabilitated, his records would then be expunged by the court. Many then took the opportunity to have their children committed for rehabilitation.

I am putting special emphasis on drug rehabilitation because I honestly believe that what the National Police are doing now by merely confining drug abusers at Bicutan, detoxifying them, giving them seminars, lectures and learning handicrafts do not truly rehabilitate them. Sooner or later, after their release, they return to drugs.

Thus, it would do well for the Arroyo administration to put up truly rehab centers nationwide to enable the drug abusers or addicts to become useful citizens.

In a sense, that bribery scandal involving the ?Alabang boys? was salutary because of the resurgence of the drug menace in our society. My gulay, if not for this brouhaha, government would have just remained complacent about this menace and its impact on the country?s well-being and security.

***

This year being an election year with some 17 more months to go till election day in May 2010, rumps and speculations are the order of the day.

The flavor of the day is Chief Justice Reynato Puno,who is rumored to be sitting on an unpromulgated decision disqualifying Negros Oriental Rep. Jocelyn Limkaichong because of a charge that she?s not a natural-born Filipino citizen as required by law for elective officials.

The rumor and speculation is that Puno could be impeached because of sitting on the decision supposedly concurred in by 14 justices. The ponente was Justice Ruben Reyes who has since retired.

The truth of the matter is that the decision is still under deliberation because while the justices were ready to concur with the result, they still had to concur with the substance and doctrine of the case.

What?s rather amusing is the rumor that the reported move to impeach Puno is being masterminded by Malaca?ang since it is known that Puno is a critic of Malaca?ang and that the impeachment move is to install a chief justice favored by the Palace.

As I stated, in this election year, anything goes fueled mostly by rumors and speculations. And media is not helping the situation any since media, too, is feasting on rumors and speculations.

What is really disconcerting about this is that, Santa Banana, even the chief justice and the Supreme Court are not spared by opposition muckrakers and mud throwers.

***

I have always admired Finance Secretary Gary Teves both as a person and as a member of the Arroyo Cabinet. When there were rumors and speculation last year that Teves might be forced to resign because his confirmation was taking a long time, I said it would be a big loss not only for President Arroyo, but for the country as well. Teves is respected and admired by the business community.

Thus, when the London-based monthly magazine The Banker named Teves as ?The Best Finance Minister for Asia in 2008,? I felt vindicated after Teves got cited for his efforts in handling the negative impact of the global crisis in the Philippines.

It?s a fact that were it not for President Arroyo?s focusing on the economy and giving priority on fiscal and economic reforms, and for Teves heading her economic team to implement her policies, the country would be in recession. Thank heavens, there will only be an economic slowdown this year.