The government was able to double its confiscation of shabu under the Duterte administration compared to the Aquino administration, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
Interviewed over ANC, PDEA spokesman Derrick Carreon said “in fact, the Philippine National Police also admitted it was [just] a mental exercise on their part.”
He made his statement even as Senator Christopher “Bong” Lawrence Go reiterated his stand that the government must use proper force to solve the drug problem.
“You should kill when necessary. You should threaten, kill. If you don’t kill the drug lord, nothing happens,” Go said.
“It is hard to totally eradicate illegal drugs due to greed. They [drug lords] can buy anybody.”
Go and Carreon issued their statements in response to Vice President Leni Robredo’s recent statement that President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs was a “massive failure.”
Robredo said she got the information and data from the PNP and other law enforcement agencies.
“They just wanted to have a picture of what industry we are up against, so we came up with a hypothetical figure,” Carreon said.
“This is why we are disputing the grade that was given to us, that was 1 percent.”
PDEA director general Aaron Aquino said Robredo’s figure was based on an “assumption.”
Carreon took a dig at the remarks of the vice president, who claimed the anti-drug campaign was a failure.
“As if they are downplaying the sacrifices of all those people who put their lives and limbs [at risk] every day,” he said.
“We have lost 10 agents. The PNP has its own casualties. Scores are wounded. How can you call that [drug war] a massive failure?”
PDEA had seized 5.24 tons of shabu since 2016 against the Aquino administration’s 3.29 tons in six years, Carreon said.
He said they were able to dismantle 14 clandestine laboratories that could have produced 96.65 tons of shabu a year.
“If you [Robredo] want to play an assumption game, we also have our own figure,” he said. With Macon Ramos-Araneta
