DDB, PDEA to create computer-based system to unify PHL figures on drug users

Following contradicting figures on the number of drug users in the Philippines, Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) chairman Dionisio Santiago on Wednesday said a computer-based system will be created to come up with the accurate count.

In an interview on News To Go, Santiago said the DDB will coordinate with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on the project.

"To come out with an accurate count, kakausapin namin ang PDEA, sila naman ang bahala sa ground. Pagkatapos, magko-compare kami and gagawin naming computer-based and that's part of the thrust," he said.

"Computer-based para lahat dadaan sa base ng DBB, para isa na lang ang panggagalingan ng figure," Santiago, a former military chief, added.

Last May, President Rodrigo Duterte fired then-DDB chairman Benjamin Reyes for presenting numbers that contradicted the government's statistics on illegal drug users, which was at 3 million.

Reyes said that there were 1.8 million illegal drug users in the country during a forum in Manila that was attended by United Nations Special Rapporteur for Extrajudicial Executions Agnes Callamard, a vocal critic of Duterte's drug war.

Santiago said the government's 3 million figure came from a survey company enlisted by the DDB, but he is now questioning where it got its data and samples.

"Actually galing yun sa Dangerous Drugs Board, nag-enlist sila ng services ng isang survey company. Yung survey company came out with figures, kaya nga kino-question ko saan ba nanggaling yung data, ano ang sample na ginamit," he said. —Jessica Bartolome/KBK/KVD, GMA News