Bato wants Anti-Drug Abuse Council institutionalized in all LGUs

Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa on Tuesday said an Anti-Drug Abuse Council (ADAC) must be activated in all local government units from the provincial level down to the barangay level.

Senate Bill No. 1952, which he filed in December, seeks to institutionalize the ADAC and appropriate funds for its creation.

The ADAC will "act as the main implementing organs for the prevention, rehabilitation and monitoring of drug dependency cases," according to Dela Rosa, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs.

In the bill, one of the duties of the ADAC is to "serve as an information-gathering mechanism which will monitor and report to appropriate authorities suspicious illegal drug personalities, facilities and activities within their jurisdiction."

"This was effectively implemented in Davao City during the mayoralty of President Duterte. Similarly, Senate President Vicente Sotto III also founded the Quezon City Anti-Drug Abuse Advisory Council when he was still the Vice Mayor of the said city," Dela Rosa said in a statement.

Citing data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, he stressed that 15,388 barangays are still affected by illegal drugs. This is equivalent to 36.6% of the total 42,045 barangays nationwide.

The former Philippine National Police chief, who led the Duterte administration's controversial war on drugs, said more than 18,000 barangays had already been cleared from July 2016 to May 2020.

Dela Rosa said his bill would ensure that all LGUs will be free from illegal drugs.

The administration's anti-illegal drugs campaign has drawn criticism from both local and international human rights advocates who estimated the drug war death toll at 27,000.

On the other hand, government data showed that as of November 2020, nearly 6,000 drug suspects had been killed in the country and over 259,000 had been arrested since 2016. — Dona Magsino/RSJ, GMA News