New Cabinet appointments

illegal drugs for the reason that if there are no drug users and addicts, there is no problem.

It’s a matter of supply and demand, for so long as there are users and addicts, there will always be cartels and syndicates that will supply the demand.

With so much focus on the part of the Duterte administration on the enforcement of the law, abuses by the police took place with as many as over 6,000 killed per official records.

GOVERNMENT and business circles are now talking about names who could possibly be appointed as members of the Marcos Jr. Cabinet with the one-year ban soon to be lifted on those who ran for public office in 2022.

Among those rumored to be joining the BBM Cabinet are: former National Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro to be named secretary of National Defense, the same position he had and served quite capably from 2007 to 2009 during the Gloria MacapagalArroyo administration.

Gibo ran for the Senate in 2022 but lost.

Those who know “Gibo ‘’ consider the new appointment as an excellent choice. President Marcos Jr. named Carlito Galvez as acting DND officer-in-charge.

Another rumored new member of the Cabinet is former Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto who, according to rumors, will replace Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos.

Just where Abalos will get reappointed is subject to speculation since, in my view, Abalos has been doing quite well as DILG secretary.

The Duterte administration forgot a holistic approach in any war against illegal drugs consists of four elements: Prevention, law enforcement, prosecution and rehabilitation

With the first year of Marcos Jr. coming to a close, the name of Arthur Yap is also being floated around as the next secretary of agriculture to replace President Marcos himself as the new agriculture secretary.

Yap also served quite capably as DA secretary from 2004 to 2005, and again from 2006 to 2007.

The name of Mike Defensor is also rumored to become the new executive secretary of BBM but, many of the government officials I know and among business circles, this could be a controversial appointment since retired Chief Justice Bersamin as “little President” is doing an excellent job.

All these speculations and rumors going around town are the result of the appointment of officers-in-charge at the DND and DOH and the fact that BBM has not appointed a permanent agriculture secretary and having made himself as DA secretary for almost a year already.

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Wrong focus in drug war

President Marcos Jr. was correct when he admitted in one of his meetings in Washington the focus during the administration of President Duterte was on the enforcement of the law that brought about abuses which resulted in a lot of extra-judicial killings.

In a speech before the Center for Strategic and International Studies, BBM however was not forthright when he said there were abuses by certain elements in government without directly mentioning the police which was in charge of the Duterte’s war on illegal drugs.

Clearly, the Duterte administration forgot a holistic approach in any war against illegal drugs consists of four elements: prevention, law enforcement, prosecution and rehabilitation.

Rehabilitation, in my view—I had been involved in the rehabilitation of drug users and addicts—consists of half of the problem in

ISTANBUL, Turkey—The clip lasted 14 seconds, presented by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as proof that his rival in Sunday’s election was running “hand in hand” with outlawed Kurdish militants.

Aired at a huge rally and beamed live on TV, the video showed opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu trying to rally his supporters to the tune of his campaign song.

In the next sequence, members of Turkey’s banned PKK group echoed that call while clapping their hands to the beat of Kilicdaroglu’s election jingle. The message Erdogan was trying to project was clear: the secular opposition leader had formed a union with “terrorists.”

Only it was a montage, one of the latest pieces of disinformation to pollute the campaign of one of Turkey’s closest and most important elections in generations.

“How can a person sitting in the president’s chair stoop this low,”