PDEA, PNP assure Robredo: Anti-drug ops won’t violate the law

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) have assured Vice President Leni Robredo and the public that the government’s anti-illegal drug operations will be conducted within the bounds of  law.

PDEA chief Aaron Aquino and Vice President Robredo aired such assurance on Friday at the conclusion of the first inter-agency committee on anti-illegal drugs (ICAD) where Robredo and Aquino serve as co-chairpersons.

Robredo accepted the appointment as ICAD co-chairperson from President Rodrigo Duterte two days ago—an appointment which came after Robredo said that the government’s anti-drug war is not working because it has failed to reduce the number of drug dependents and traffickers.

“All operations should be transparent. Rule of law should be followed. Kung ano iyong batas, iyon ang susundin dapat namin,” Aquino said.

“The PNP’s Officer-in-Charge [Archie Gamboa] also assured me that the police’s anti-drug operations will be in accordance with rule of law,” Robredo, who had vowed that the drug war should have zero killings with her at ICAD helm, added.

Robredo has said that she wants the anti-drug war to be transparent, and that its success should be measured not with body count, but with the number of former drug dependents whose lives were improved due to rehabilitation.

The Vice President then said that such metrics were a contentious point during the first ICAD meeting.

According to Robredo, the government is using 81 indicators of drug war success.

Robredo, however, said such indicators should be time-bound given that the Duterte administration only has three years to deliver on President Duterte’s campaign promise to end illegal drugs.

“Matagal iyong discussion rito. Hindi lang dapat sa dami ng nag-surrender, kung hindi ilan ang narehabilitate roon?  At doon sa narehabilitate, ano na ang nangyari sa kanila?” Robredo said.

“Kaya ang suggestion ko, lagyan ng time-bound targets, at sana may targets na sana by the end of the year. Kung ilan na ba dapat ang rehabilitation centers until end of 2019? Ilan na dapat ang drug fee barangays. Sana iyong indicator, quantifiable,” she added.

Police records have showed that over 5,000 drug suspects have been killed under the PNP’s anti-drug operations. The figure, however, does not include those drug-war related deaths committed by unidentified gunmen. — RSJ, GMA News