AFTER 11 hearings of the quad committee, legislators still do not get it. There is a choice that legislators need to make and that is a choice they alone should be making and not by the House speaker or any astroturfing. The choice is whether they can render judgment on a program of a previous president without knowing the exact reasons why the 16th decided to confront and make a flagship of the war against illegal drugs (WAID). They were not there when the president was briefed; they did not know the state of affairs then and were not part of the decision-making. Again, that is the prerogative of a president, what is often called executive privilege.

Then, there is also a choice that residents and voters will need to make whether or not they support said program. This has been made, articulated and established with the exit of the 16th to high ratings, both in approval and trust, never seen in presidential history. The bar has been raised, and the people have registered support for the effort, warts and all.