The drug menace in the Philippines is a multi-headed hydra with its tentacles reaching levels far deeper than what we think. And the worse part of it is that it has to a great extent corrupted the pillars of justice, from the law enforcement agencies to prosecution and as high as the judiciary.

Obviously realizing that the drug menace in the country has become a threat even to national security, President Arroyo herself has proclaimed herself as the anti-drug czarina. Only a President, after all, can mobilize the entire machinery of government to address the problem that can destroy not only the future of the country?the youth?but families and society itself.

We may not realize it, but drug cartels and drug syndicates are already operating in the country. Just how many of them there are, we can only guess.

In fact, records have it that ?shabu,? which is popular among both the rich and the poor, are already manufactured in the Philippines.

Just note how many aliens, mostly Chinese nationals, who came in as tourists, have been apprehended and prosecuted. According to Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief, former Armed Forces Chief Dionisio Santiago, the country is now the main transshipment point of illegal drugs bound for the US and Europe. This is a call for both Customs and the Immigration bureau.

A very disturbing aspect of this multi-headed hydra is that the Philippines has also become the biggest and main user of illegal drugs in Southeast Asia. Santa Banana, that should make us cringe with the thought that our children are the targets and victims!

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Just how many of these aliens and their cohorts among Filipinos apprehended have been convicted, we can only guess. Perhaps, the President should create a body to monitor all these because there had been instances when aliens manufacturing illegal drugs have been released on bail, and soon disappear. How they do it is another story.

I have been talking to some judges and justices who have had cases of illegal drugs in their salas. They tell me that in most cases, either the police do a sloppy job (for lack of training) of arresting or apprehending drug traffickers and users (a user is always a pusher to maintain his or her drug addiction), or the witnesses disappear or refuse to testify, or some fiscals or prosecutors recommend dismissal of the case for lack of sufficient evidence. Worse, some judges grant them bail in spite of the fact that drug trafficking and pushing are capital offenses.

My gulay, what?s happening to the controversial case of the ?Alabang boys? can only validate how deep the drug menace has gotten hold of pillars of justice, without which no democracy can exist. That?s why I believe that this multi-headed hydra has become a threat to national security requiring draconian measures by the President.

I?d say that it?s a national threat far worse than the communist insurgents and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front secessionists or even the Abu Sayyaf terrorists. At least in the case of the New People?s Army, MILF and the ASG, government knows who did what, what they are fighting against and where they are.

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The fact that the drug menace has its tentacles on the pillars of justice, which to some extent has eroded people?s faith and confidence in the system, is cause for worry.

The drug cartel and syndicates operating in the Philippines will not hesitate to do their worst like killing honest policemen, prosecutors and even judges just as they do in Colombia, and slowly and surely also in Mexico, where drug wars are prevalent for control of turf.

There are also reports that the drug cartel or syndicates operating in the country have in their pockets well-known lawyers and law firms to corrupt law enforcers, prosecutors and even judges. This is another cause of concern since the law appears now on the side of drug syndicates, manufacturers, traffickers and pushers.

As a result of these, there have been outcries for the restoration the death penalty for drug manufacturers, traffickers and pushers.

However, there is no empirical data to show that death penalty can stop them. It?s big money, very big, and those involved will take the risk at all costs.

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I am for all kinds of draconian measures to stop this multi-headed hydra from further making a mockery of our pillars for justice short of executing every drug trafficker, manufacturer and pusher by a firing squad.

By the way, that gives us some thought since the execution of noted drug trafficker Lim Seng during the early days of Martial Law stopped the drug menace in this country, even only for a while.

However, since we are a country where the rule of law and due process are observed in a democratic society, lining up drug manufacturers, traffickers and pushers against the wall and shooting them cannot be done. But, in every aspect this is a menace that only a President can address with enough political will and resolve.

The problem though is that corruption is behind the success of the hydra in making a mockery of the justice system. And corruption is likewise taking its toll on the moral fabric of our society.

Thus, to a certain extent, Chief Justice Reynato Puno is right in calling for all religious organizations for a need of a ?moral force? that can address our society?s weakening moral values and priorities. Santa Banana, just how this can be achieved is again another story.

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On another dimension, I cannot believe some speculations, exacerbated by rumors and gossip passed on as facts by some sectors of media that retired Supreme Court Justice Ruben Reyes was responsible in leaking out that draft of his ponencia. The decision has not been promulgated by the chief justice, and now fuels speculation that the chief justice could be impeached.

As a lawyer, I was trained to look for motives for people to do what they do and act the way they do. And I see no motive at all on the part of Reyes to be accused of leaking out his ponencia on the disqualification case of Negros Oriental Rep. Jocelyn Limkaichong.

Certainly, what can the retired justice, who has in fact, supported the chief justice on the non-promulgation of his ruling, gain from leaking out the draft of his ponencia? Nothing, but nothing at all.

I have known Ruben Reyes for years, first as a fiscal, then as judge and afterwards as justice of the Court of Appeals, and later on a presiding justice of the Court of Appeals. Note that he was bypassed five times in his nomination as justice to the high court. My gulay, this means that he had no political padrino! And his ponencia will validate his independence as a Supreme Court justice.

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Just in case you don?t know why the processing of new and renewed driver?s licenses, and registration of vehicles with their insurance coverage and almost everything the Land Transportation Office is supposed to do are long delayed, it?s because the main computer frame of Stradcom, which has a multi-billion-peso contract to computerize the LTO, has bogged down.

This is what I?ve been saying all along. The Transportation Department needs to review the Stradcom contract. This company has grossly violated provisions of the deal and in fact, has not fulfilled its commitments as required.

In fact, a House of Representatives investigation into the Stradcom contract, which is manifestly grossly disadvantageous to government, has validated the need to cancel the contract for the benefit of government and the LTO. The government is losing by the billions.

Santa Banana, just why LTO chief Alberto Suansing is not doing anything against Stradcom is of course another story, as they say.