5 presidential aspirants give their take on illegal drugs, congested jail facilities

Five presidential aspirants on Friday gave their respective remarks on the Philippines' campaign on illegal drugs as well as congestion on the country's jail facilities.

The five aspirants — Vice President Leni Robredo, Senators Panfilo Lacson and Manny Pacquiao, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and labor leader Leody de Guzman — issued their statements during the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas Presidential Candidates Forum.

Former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. was not able to join the forum due to conflict in schedule.

"We should amend the Dangerous Drugs Law that the penalty for drug users, drug dependent and drug pusher, dapat iba-iba (it should differ)," Vice President Leni Robredo said.

Robredo's remark came as she cited data that as of June 2017, jail congestion at the Bureau of Corrections is at 114%; at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology 582% with 144,000 inmates, of which 70% are involved in drug cases. 

For his part, Pacquiao said he has a program addressing the problem of jail congestion.

"May programa po tayo diyan, pagpapagawa ng mega-prison para po sa ating mga masesentensyahan, lalo na rito sa korapsyon ay doon sila mapunta lahat," Pacquiao said.

(We have a program for that, creation of a mega-prison for those who will be sentenced, in particular for corruption.)

"At mabawasan yung siksikan doon sa Bilibid prison. Grabe ang dami na ng preso doon. Sa isang kuwarto siguro mga 10 or 15 po silang natutulog, siksikan. Kaliang po natin ng karagdagang faciltiies para po sa kanilang tulugan," he added.

(This will decongest the New Bilibid Prison. There are so many inmates there. In one facility, there are 10 to 15 people sleeping there, too crowded. We need new facilities for them.)

On the other hand, De Guzman said he would not do what the Duterte administration did in the anti-illegal drugs campaign.

"Hindi ko susundin yung dating ginawa ng administrasyon na patay, patay, patay. Hindi ko gagawin yan. Lalabas, hindi yan solusyon. Ang kinakailangan ay pahigpitan pa natin ang mga batas at panuntunan hinggil sa pag-address sa droga," he said.

(I will not follow what the [Duterte] administration did ... kill, kill, kill. I won't do that since it will not turn out to be the solution. What is needed is strict implementation of existing laws in addressing illegal drugs," he added.

De Guzman said all drug lords and financiers should be arrested and drug dependents should be rehabilitated.

Curbing supply of drugs

Meanwhile, Moreno vowed to focus on curbing the supply of illegal drugs in the country.

Moreno said he would do this by strengthening the Philippine Navy, not just for guarding  Philippine territories, but also to prevent drug smuggling. He claimed that there is no production of drugs in the country as the supply came from other countries.

"Ito ay epekto lamang ng problema kaya I would rather go on the roots of the problem which is the supply chain. If there is no supply and there will be no available drugs in the country, naturally all these things or itong mga problemang nabanggit ng mga kandidato na valid naman ay mawawala 'yan," Moreno said.

"Palalakasin ko ang Navy para sa WPS o para sa mga mangingisda. Same thing para sa mga smuggler at nagpapasok ng droga kasi it seems nawawala na ang production ng droga dito pero bulto-bulto ang dumadating dito so there must be a problem in our point of entry," he added.

Lacson, for his part, reiterated his two-pronged strategy in addressing the drug problem in the country.

“Sa illegal drugs, dapat comprehensive at holistic ano. ‘Wag magfocus lagi sa law enforcement. Samahan natin at equally, ang prevention at rehabilitation,” he mentioned anew.

He agreed with Moreno that the supply chain must be cut but he also pointed out the need to introduce rehabilitation program for the drug dependents.

Part of this is the regionalization of jail facilities.

“Mayroon kaming programa ni Senate President [Vicente Sotto III] na gawing regionalized. Bakit ba nagra-riot sa Muntinlupa kasi hindi nadadalaw ang kanilang mga nakakulong na kapamilya. So nagkakaroon ng problema,” he said.

(Senate President Sotto and I have a proposed program to have these jail facilities regionalized. There were riots in Muntinlupa because the families have no access to the persons deprived of liberty.)

“So rehabilitation po ang isang pakay o isang programa para sa mga nakakulong,” he added.

(So rehabilitation is one of the programs that we have for those who are inside the jails.) — Llanesca T. Panti, Anna Felicia Bajo, Joviland Rita and Hana Bordey/RSJ, GMA News