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AMID FEARS OF EJKs

Palace says PDEA-led war to focus on drug lords, narco-pols


The war on drugs led by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency will now focus on the arrest of drug lords and narcopoliticians and other means of solving the drug menace to address the public's concern over extrajudicial killings, Malacañang said on Monday.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella made the remark after the latest Pulse Asia survey showed that 73 percent of the respondents believed extrajudicial killings were being committed in President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.

“With the return of anti-narcotics operations to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), we expect the focus to shift to arrests of drug lords and narco-politicians, the interdiction of smuggled or locally made drugs, and the prevention and rehabilitation of addiction, in collaboration with LGUs, Church, civil society, and community groups,” Abella said in a statement.

“This new campaign against drugs will hopefully continue to win near-universal support, while addressing the public’s concern over unlawful suspect deaths,” he added.

In a Pulse Asia survey conducted from September 24 to 30, 73 Filipinos believe that there were EJKs in the implementation of the drug war.

Abella said Malacañang understood this sentiment because of the “massive media coverage of the Caloocan youth killings during the survey period.”  

But he asked the public to take a step back on associating the killings of minors to EJKs.

“These suspicions, however, must always be validated by investigation and evidence, and that is the job of the Philippine National Police Internal Affairs Service (PNP-IAS), as well as the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), if ordered to investigate such incidents,” Abella said.

Moreover, 76% of respondents also expressed concern that what happened to 17-year-old Kian de los Santos might happen to them or to someone they know.

“We also share the concern of many Filipinos over unlawful killings possibly perpetrated in the anti-drug campaign.  As we have previously said, even one death is one too many,” Abella said.

“The President has made it absolutely clear that killing unarmed suspects who do not resist arrest is never allowed and will be punished,” he added.

 

 

Church’s role

Abella said the administratiubto the 58 percent of respondents who said that Catholic church leaders should help in the rehabilitation of drug addicts.

He said the Duterte administration had been open to the idea.

“It is unfortunate that the Church has been a staunch critic of the government’s anti-illegal drug campaign. We appeal to the Catholic Church hierarchy to encourage some of its leaders to be more cautious in their pronouncements that drive a wedge among the flock,” Abella said.

He added that the same leaders are “at the core of the division within the Church.”

“We urge them to pro-actively help government in the second phase of our anti-illegal drug campaign, which is focused on the rehabilitation and treatment of drug dependents, which include the restoration of mental, spiritual, and psycho-emotional health,” Abella said. —NB, GMA News

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