The dismissal of Kerwin Espinosa, Peter Lim and other narcotics dealers involved in the 2016 drug trafficking case is an interesting irony in Duterte’s bloody war on drugs. It looks like that this administration, which is addicted to eradicating drug addicts by killing them, is the same administration that acquits a self-confessed drug lord and his big-time cohorts because of “weak evidence."

This scenario leads most of us to a very important question: Who are Duterte’s real enemies in this gruesome war?

The likes of Kian Loyd Delos Santos, Carl Angelo Arnaiz and other innocent civilians who were killed during police crackdowns on drug personalities serve as faces of Duterte’s war on drugs. Some of them were just teenagers whose were dreams ruined forever because they became “collateral damage” in this bloody campaign. But Kian, Carl and the growing number of victims have one thing in common: they lived in poverty-stricken communities.

While there are few high-profile personalities killed in this war like mayors Reynaldo Parojinog and Rolando Espinosa, Sr., statistics from different organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch show that most casualties in this campaign came from the slums. It also reflected in an SWS survey last year wherein 3 out of 5 Filipinos believe that Duterte’s war on drugs targets those who live in the country’s poorest neighborhoods.

Innocent or influential?

Kerwin Espinosa was under oath when he manifested his part in the Visayan drug cartel during the Senate investigation in 2016. His statement alone was a clear confirmation that he is indeed a drug lord. So how on earth Department of Justice (DOJ) cleared him from those drug charges?

Like Espinosa, businessman Peter Lim was among those acquitted by the DOJ panel. Despite Espinosa’s testimony against Lim, he was given the chance to meet Duterte and explain his side to his “wedding kumpadre”. Duterte himself allowed this big-time drug lord to speak and defend himself from allegations. He just threatened Lim that if the accusations prove to be true, he himself will kill him. And that’s it. Lim remained alive, continued his life until DOJ cleared him from those cases.

Unlike other drug addicts who faced death without explaining themselves to the courts, Espinosa, Lim and others succeeded in tasting the sweetness of their undeserved justice.

And if the self-confessed drug lord Espinosa and Lim, whom he pointed out as financier, were cleared and declared innocent, it is safe to say that Senator Leila de Lima, who has been publicly persecuted and prejudged as a beneficiary of drug money from Espinosa without any evidence or proper due process, is therefore innocent. She is more deserving of release than Espinosa and Lim. But since De Lima is a staunch critic of Duterte, she won't be granted that kind of treatment.

Another Duterte-serye twist?

So who’s to blame in this mess? The Palace reprimands justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II. On the other hand, Aguirre is singling out several DOJ prosecutors and PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG). Meanwhile, police chief Bato dela Rosa filed a motion of reconsideration and assured he would “use all legal remedies to make sure they are held liable.”

It seems that the dismissal of the charges against Espinosa and Lim is nothing but an indication of Duterte’s failure of his war on drugs. His campaign promise to destroy illegal drug operations and personalities is part of a drama that continues to deceive many Filipinos. The propaganda machinery is on the move to pull down other officials, but in fact, they are trying to avoid Duterte in this hullabaloo.

This war on drugs is truly not a sincere drug war but a brutal war against the poor.

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Disclaimer: The views in this blog are those of the blogger and do not necessarily reflect the views of ABS-CBN Corp.