Dela Rosa: Public perception better gauge of drug war success or failure

For Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, the public's perception of the war on drugs is the better indicator of whether it has failed or succeeded.

Dela Rosa made the remark on Sunday in response to Vice President Leni Robredo's claim that the war on drugs was a failure based on her findings as co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) for 19-days.

"Kung ako, huwag na tayong mag-debate ... kasi wala namang laman yung sinabi niya. Magtanong na lang kayo sa mga tao kung ano ang pakiramdam nila sa drug war," Dela Rosa, a former police chief, said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

"Tingnan mo naman yung 80% plus ang naniniwala na successful itong ating drug war. Ang mga tao ay nagugustuhan nila yung ginagawa natin. Kasama lang siya (Robredo) doon sa 16% na ayaw," he added.

Dela Rosa was referring to the September 2016 results of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey on the public perception of the war on drugs, where 84% of the respondents said they are satisfied with how the government implemented its anti-drug campaign.

This satisfaction rating, however, has already gone down to 79% according to the results of the latest SWS survey.

In her report, Robredo said the Duterte administration's war on drugs is a failure as it was only able to reduce shabu supply and drug money by 1% in the last three years.

She gave the Duterte administration a score of one out of 100 in its performance in solving the drug menace.

But Dela Rosa said Robredo could not have accounted for the exact number of drug supply to come up with her findings, as these were all estimates.

"Nabilang ba niya kung ilan ang pumasok sa market? Nabilang ba niya kung gaano kalaki? Lahat yun ay pawang estimate. Sabi ng PDEA, sabi ng PNP, gumamit siya ng data na unofficial, unverified, unvalidated," he said.

"Pasalamat siya at nahuli yung bilyon-bilyon, kilo-kilong droga. Pasalamat siya at nahuhuli. Bakit? Kung wala na bang nahuhuli, ibig sabihin wala nang supply na pumapasok?" he added.

Robredo should also take into account the efforts of the government against illegal drugs, and not merely on how much has been eradicated so far, the senator pointed out.

"Doon siya tumutok sa effort ng gobyerno to curve the illegal drug problem. Kapag maraming nahuhuli, ibig sabihin masipag, nagsumikap at walang takot yung ating mga pulis na magtrabaho para diyan. Hindi kagaya noon na maraming bawal-bawal."

Dela Rosa believes the country's maritime forces should be strengthened to help stop drug supplies from coming in.

He underscored that the country is an archipelago, and thus there are several possible entry points of drug supplies from foreign countries.

"Bumili tayo ng kailangan nating equipment, mga surveillance equipment na mamo-monitor natin yung mga pumapasok dito sa ating bansa. Yung ating Navy palakasin natin, ang ating Coast Guard, palakasin natin. Ang ating maritime group, palakasin natin," he stressed.

"Kasi we are maritime country or isla tayo kaya dapat malakas yung ating sea capabilities at monitoring sa ating mga coastal areas," he added. —Erwin Colcol/LBG, GMA News