Lacson-Sotto tandem vows no ‘tokhang’ policy in anti-drug campaign

The tandem of Senator Panfilo Lacson and Senate President Vicente Sotto III vowed that there will be no “tokhang” in their anti-drug campaign should they win as president and vice president in the 2022 national and local elections.

"Walang tokhang. Sinabi na ito ni Senate President, sinabi niya na sakin na 'wag ko nang problemahin yun. Sabi niya, kinapos yung current administration. Ini-admit na rin ito ni Pangulong Duterte sa kanyang SONA na akala niya ganoon kasimple,” Lacson said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay virtual forum Wednesday.

(There will be no tokhang in our policies. The Senate President already told me not to stress myself about it. He said that the current administration has fell short on this campaign and this was even admitted by President Duterte in his last SONA. He thought the problem was that simple.)

The lawmaker reiterated that their anti-drug campaign will not focus on law enforcement alone but also in the prevention and rehabilitation.

“Ang approach ni Senate President, ang pagkukulang, na-focus masyado sa law enforcement, nakalimutan yung prevention at saka rehabilitation,” Lacson said.

(The approach of the Senate president is to focus on the shortcomings of the current administration. They focused on the law enforcement and they forgot about the prevention and rehabilitation.)

At the same forum, Sotto said he already committed to Lacson that he will take care of the problem of illegal drugs in the country.

“My first promise would be I will remove his headache as far as illegal drugs and drug abuse is concerned,” Sotto said.

“Hindi na niya poproblemahin yun. Ako ang bahala doon. Gagamitin ko yung expertise ko ng 31 years sa advocacy na ito para ika nga e ‘wag na niyang problemahin yun at ang iintindihin na lang niya ay yung ekonomiya at yung mga programa na naka-focus siya ngayon na pinaghahandaan,” Sotto said.

(That's no longer his concern. I will take care of it. I will use my expertise from my 31 years of advocacy. He will just focus on the economy and other programs.)

The Senate chief said he will still consult Lacson for the law enforcement side considering his experience as Philippine National Police chief.

In an interview Tuesday, Lacson expressed hope that Duterte will still make significant changes in his campaign against corruption and illegal drugs in his remaining year in office.

Lacson made the remark after Duterte admitted in his sixth and last State of the Nation Address that the problem in corruption and illegal drugs still persist in the country.

The war against illegal drugs was one of the campaign promises by Duterte. He vowed to eradicate illegal drugs within three to six months since he assumed the presidency in 2016.

Oplan Tokhang, the police’s knock-and-plead strategy of convincing suspected drug personalities to stop using illegal drugs, became controversial as critics of the government claim this has left over 20,000 suspects dead. 

Authorities, however, placed the fatalities at over 6,000. They also insist that the suspects were killed while fighting it out with responding law enforcers. — RSJ, GMA News