Kung exam ‘to, 1/100, failure talaga!': Robredo calls Duterte's drug war a 'failure'

Vice President Leni Robredo/photo courtesy of Phil Star

Vice President Leni Robredo said Monday (January 6), that the Duterte administration’s fierce campaign against illegal drugs, the government was still a failure and seized only one percent of the illegal drugs that circulating the country over the past three years of implementation.

Robredo said in a press conference, she reported her 40-page key findings from her short stint as co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD).

She insisted there is a need to step up the government’s strategy to tackle the problem of illegal drugs.

Referring to the data from the Philippine National Police (PNP), Robredo said an estimated P1.3 trillion worth of shabu is spreaded around the country every year.

However, government’s data also showed that authorities only captured 1,053 kilos of shabu in 2017 and 785 kilos of shabu in 2018, interpreting only to one percent of the illegal drugs supply in the country.

On the other hand, the Anti-Money Laundering Council, only froze some P1.4 billion in assets linked to the illegal drug trade between 2017 and 2018.

“Malinaw na malinaw, na ayon mismo sa opisyal na datos, sa kabila ng lahat ng Pilipinong pinatay, at lahat ng perang ginasta, hindi lumampas sa isang porsiyento ang naipit natin sa supply ng shabu at sa perang kinita mula sa droga,” Robredo stated.

She also said that if it were an exam the Duterte administration would have scored poorly at 1/100 since it only managed to capture 1% of the total projected illegal drugs and drug money exchanged on the streets.

“Isipin na lang natin, kung exam ito, ang magiging score ng ating pamahalaan ay 1 over 100,” she added.

Robredo said the poor results of the drug war requires a modification in strategy. She emphasized that the PNP’s “Oplan Tokhang” is not the solution to stopping the illegal drug trade.

“Imbes na habulin o patayin ang nagbebenta sa kanto, kailangan tugisin ang pinanggagalingan ng droga—ang mga malalaking drug lords. Sila ang tunay na kalaban, hindi ang ordinaryong mamamayan,” the VP Robredo said.

The Vice-President also hit the inconsistencies and confusion in data gathering among government agencies involved in the drug war.

According to her, different agencies belonging to ICAD have various statistics on the number of illegal drug users and pushers.

“Kung kalat ang datos, kalat ang kampanya. Hindi natin masusukat kung gumagana ang ating mga programa. Hindi natin masasabi kung nagtatagumpay ba tayo,” Robredo added.

The Vice President urged the President Duterte to certify as urgent bills which will strengthen the Anti-Drug Abuse Councils and Anti-Drug Abuse Offices, as well as institutionalize community-based drug rehabilitation programs.