Robredo urges Duterte admin to ‘rethink’ strategy in drug war

Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday said the Duterte administration might have to “rethink” its strategy in its campaign against illegal drugs.

This was in response to Malacañang saying President Rodrigo Duterte is considering the reactivation of the Philippine Constabulary to help the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), now the assigned unit for the government’s crackdown on illegal drugs.

In an exclusive interview with News To Go, Robredo noted that the assessment should not only include the mere transfer of responsibility to another institution, but the government’s strategy as a whole.

“Siguro ‘wag tayong padalos-dalos sa pag-desisyon kung sino ba ‘yung mag-i-implement na... Una, kung itutuloy ‘yung programa, sino ‘yung mag-i-implement. It’s one thing to say na ililipat lang. Baka instead na sino-solve niyan ‘yung problema, lalong madagdagan,” the Vice President said.

She added: “Pangalawa, ito ba ‘yung gusto nating gawin sa pagsugpo ng problema sa illegal drugs?”

Robredo said this re-assessment might be needed since the extensive campaign was not able to solve the problem within the original six-month period set by Duterte, where more than 2,500 drug personalities have been killed in police operations.

Thousands of other deaths under investigation have also been recorded.

“Kasi it has been six months, hanggang ngayon may nahuhuli pang laboratories na malalaki, so ibig sabihin, even with all the killings in those six months, hindi naman deterrent siya kasi patuloy pa rin ‘yung drug trade,” she said.

Robredo reiterated that she is “all with the President in his war against drugs,” but added: “Pero hindi ako okay with Tokhang, hindi ako okay with extrajudicial killings.”

“Ang purpose nito hindi natin parang sabihin na tapos na ‘yung deadline, pero dahil six months na at wala pang nangyayari, kailangan siguro i-rethink natin what we are doing wrong,” the Vice President said. 

Data from the Philippine National Police shows that 2,548 drug suspects have been killed and 52,877 have been arrested out of 43,432 police anti-illegal drug operations.

The PNP also visited almost 7,000,067 houses under Project Tokhang, where policemen visit the homes of drug suspects to appeal for them to mend their illegal ways.

Project Tokhang has so far resulted in the surrender of 1,177,817 drug suspects. Of those who surrendered, 79,338 were drug pushers and 1,098,479 were users. — MDM, GMA News