DILG agrees to scrap Masa Masid drug drop box plan

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Interior and Local Government on Wednesday said that it is amenable to dropping a plan to use a drop box system that would allow anonymous allegations of drug activity and crime.

 

The agency made the manifestation after Sen. Risa Hontiveros made the call to eliminate the proposed drop box system during the budget hearing for the DILG’s 2018 budget.

 

The DILG recently issued Memorandum Circular 2017-2012 dated August 29, which implements Mamamayang Ayaw sa Anomalya, Mamamayang Ayaw sa Iligal na Droga — or Masa Masid — in all barangays nationwide.

 

The memorandum orders barangays, municipalities and cities to set up drop boxes where people can anonymously submit names of supposed drug personalities and criminals.

 

The senator described the drop box system as "highly irregular" and called it "raffle draw for killings" in light of deaths in police anti-drug operations and of drug suspects that the government has blamed on assassins, drug syndicates and vigilantes.

 

“The more entries you send, the more chances of killing," Akbayan party, of which Hontiveros is a member, said of the DILG's plan.

 

At the budget hearing, Hontiveros asked the DILG how it can ensure that the information from the drop boxes are not manufactured or false. She also asked how the government can prevent the names of innocent people from ending up in the drop boxes.

 

"I strongly suggest that the DILG eliminate the dropboxes from its anti-drugs campaign. It will only be prone to malice and abuse and could even lead to unnecessary deaths. What says the department's good sponsor?" Hontiveros said during the deliberations.

 

Sen. JV Ejercito, sponsor of the DILG's budget, responded that the department and the Philippine National Police were willing to remove the proposed mechanism.

 

"We are listening, the DILG and PNP officials are here and they are willing to drop the box," Ejercito said.

 

Hontiveros then thanked the DILG and Ejercito for hearing out her call and for responding positively. She took to Twitter to share the news:

 

“GOOD NEWS! During my budget interpellation,DILG agreed to drop the Tokhang dropboxes & allocate funds elsewhere #DropTheBox #StopTheKillings, the senator wrote on her Twitter account.

 

 

Aside from Hontiveros, legal assistance and human rights groups also criticized the DILG’s drop box system. 

 

The National Union of Peoples' Lawyers, Free Legal Assistance Group, and Karapatan separately condemned the mechanism saying it would violate the right to due process of law-abiding citizens.

 

DILG OIC-Secretary Catalino Uy earlier defended the drop box system saying it is only meant to elicit suggestions to help the government’s drive against illegal drugs, criminality, corruption and violent extremism.

 

He added that all information received would be verified and validated.

 

“The drop boxes are not for fishing out information. They are there for feedback because we want the public to be involved in our efforts,” Cuy said in a release on October 4.

 

The DILG has yet to issue a memorandum circular to revoke Memorandum Circular 2017-2012.

 

Earlier on Wednesday, the Palace released a memorandum designating the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency as the sole agency to lead the government's war on drugs, removing the task from the PNP.

 

In the document, President Rodrigo Duterte said all information obtained in the course of the enforcement of the anti-narcotics campaign must be “relayed, delivered, or brought to the attention of the PDEA for its appropriate action.”

Despite sidelining the police from the drug war, Duterte, nonetheless, directed the PNP to maintain its visibility “at all times” as a “deterrent to illegal drug activities.”