Despite President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration that the drug problem was worsening, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said Wednesday that a spate of seizures of illegal drugs worth billions of pesos is “a positive indicator that the government is very effective in carryout out its war against drugs.”
With the recent seizures, it was normal for the President and the public to think the drug situation was worsening, PDEA spokesman Derrick Carreon said.
PDEA discovered 12 incidents of floating cocaine packages in the eastern seaboard of the country between February and March, and arrested several Chinese nationals in buy-bust operations.
“These syndicates cannot evade our authorities. Before, drugs could pass through the Bureau of Customs unnoticed, but we now have a collaboration with the bureau and other law enforcement agencies to be able to immediately respond,” Carreon said.
“We have coordination and intelligence sharing with our international counterparts,” he added.
“What is important is that authorities are able to prevent these illegal drugs from flooding our streets,” he said.
PDEA director general Aaron Aquino said most of the 31 show business celebrities on their watchlist are very popular and young, in their 20s or 30s, and have their own shows and movies.
“They are all popular, except for one—the old one—who is already a has-been,” he told the ANC’s Headstart.
He said 11 of those on the list were actresses.
Aquino has declined to name the show business celebrities, saying their inclusion in the list had yet to be validated.
Meanwhile, a governor 50 mayors are facing administrative complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman for “low functionality” of and failure to activate their anti-drug abuse councils [ADACs].
Assistant Secretary Ricojudge Echiverri of the Department of the Interior and Local Government filed complaints of dereliction of duty for neglect and misconduct to activate their ADACs in compliance with Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.
The only governor facing a complaint was Tawi-Tawi Gov. Rashidin Matba.
The DILG is still looking into the possible filing of criminal complaints against the local officials, Echiverri said, noting that nine of them were supposedly involved in the illegal drug trade.
On May 21, 2018, the DILG and Dangerous Drugs Board signed a joint memorandum, directing local governments to form the ADACs.
“The failure of the respondent to create the local ADAC can be classified as a misconduct in office or a dereliction of duty which is among the grounds for discipline, suspension, or removal from office of a local official,” the complaint read.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, meanwhile, said he favored the reimposition of the death penalty for drug traffickers to remove the perception that they could buy their way out of any sentence.
Also on Wednesday, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Oscar Albayalde said the policeman gunned down on EDSA and Connecticut on Tuesday had previously been linked to the illegal drug trade.
Albayalde said police were still looking into the possible motives for the killing of Police Senior Master Sgt. Solomon Cugay, but noted that he had been on President Rodrigo Duterte’s list of drug suspects before.
In an interview on the ANC news channel, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said the prospect of easy money was what attracted drug syndicates to the Philippines.
“Maybe the enemies are really getting better [at] entering here,” Panelo said.
“Billions and billions of money are involved in here. [It’s] money, they risk lives because of that,” he added. – With Macon Ramos-Araneta“‹