Palace rejects ex-New Zealand PM Clark’s suggestion to decriminalize narcotics use

Malacañang on Thursday rejected the suggestion of former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark to decriminalize the use of narcotics as she criticized the alleged extrajudicial killings in President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.

Clark, also a former administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said in an interview aired on ANC television Thursday that she favors the decriminalization of drug use and legal regulation of some narcotics.

She said "evidence" would show that "whenever you criminalize a behavior of human beings you drive that behavior underground and that can have very serious health consequences."

"The suggestion of former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark to decriminalize the use of drugs as an alternative to the drug war, similar to the proposal by the European Union made two years ago, had already been thumbed down by the President," presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

"The other countries’ experiences in addressing illegal substance while educational relative to their method of solving their own drug menace, decriminalizing the use of drugs in the Philippines will not only aggravate but multiply the problem."

Panelo said the Philippines has a billion-peso illegal drug industry and that 97 percent of its barangays "have or had already been infiltrated" by it.

"Take out the criminal liability of those involved and you induce and encourage others to be a part of the dreaded evil," he said.

Clark, who served as UNDP administrator from 2009 to 2017, urged the Philippines to reconsider the alleged heavy-handed approach to curbing illegal drugs and look into the possibility of adopting a human rights-based strategy.

She said the Duterte administration's handling of the drug problem "has raised many human rights concerns" including "serious increase in the number of extrajudicial killings" of people who are suspected of being minor dealers or users.

Panelo countered that the Philippines' campaign against prohibited narcotics is "anchored on national security and on public health."

"Drug treatment and rehabilitation form part of the second phase of our campaign," he said, citing the construction of drug rehabilitation centers.

"We suggest observers, especially those in foreign countries, to understand fully the Philippine government's strategy in dealing with illegal drugs before being persuaded by one-sided information and crafting unwise if not cerebrally challenged commentaries based thereon," the Palace spokesman said. — RSJ, GMA News